BRITAIKS  CIVILIAN 
VOLUNTEERS 


THERLA  BOWSER 


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r 


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BRITAIN'S   CIVILIAN 
VOLUNTEERS 


AUTHORIZED   STORY  OF  BRITISH  VOLUNTARY 

AID   DETACHMENT   WORK    IN   THE 

GREAT  WAR 


BY 

THEKLA  BOWSER,  F.J.I. 

Serving  Sister  of  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem 


NEW  YORK 

MOFFAT,  YARD  AND  COMPANY 

1917 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
MOFFAT,  YARD  AND  COMPANY 


Fablislied  May,  1917 


FOEEWORD 

HISTORY  must  needs  record  with  what  splen- 
did devotion  the  women  of  the  warring  na- 
tions, nobles  and  peasants,  rich  and  poor,  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  like  members  of  one  stricken  family, 
have  united  in  their  endeavour  to  relieve  suffering 
humanity. 

The  war  has  clearly  demonstrated  that  whilst 
women  have  been  eager  and  willing  to  use  the 
greatest  gift  which  God  has  bestowed  upon  them — 
the  desire  to  render  service — such  service  only 
reached  its  maximum  of  efficiency  in  organised 
effort. 

I  fear  that  any  attempt  on  my  part  to  do  justice 
to  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  organised  effort — 
the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments — must  needs  be 
inadequate,  partly  because  there  was  never  a 
period  when  publicity  was  so  little  sought  and 
when  so  much  that  was  fine  and  generous  was  done 
so  quietly.  But  those  of  us  who  have  taken  any 
active  part  in  the  service  of  the  Red  Cross  know 
that  wherever  the  task  was  hardest  and  the  danger 
greatest  there  was  always  to  be  found  a  member 
of  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  not  only  will- 
ing but  thoroughly  prepared  to  carry  out  her  al- 
lotted duties. 


3716S3 


vi  FOEEWOED 

These  trained  bands  of  women  established  be- 
fore the  war  in  every  town,  nay,  practically  in 
every  village,  of  Great  Britain  were  one  of  our 
greatest  national  assets  and  of  practical  use  to 
our  Allies. 

When  it  became  necessary  to  staff  the  small 
hospitals  tucked  away  in  the  hills  of  Britain  or  to 
provide  orderlies  to  face  the  horrible,  indescrib- 
able conditions  existing  in  a  Serbian  typhus  hos- 
pital, the  preference  was  given  in  every  instance 
to  the  women  of  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments. 
We  knew  that  whilst  acquiring  a  good  general 
working  knowledge  each  member  had  specialised 
in  some  branch  of  the  Eed  Cross  work  and  that 
she  had  been  required  to  use  her  best  endeavours 
to  keep  herself  in  perfect  physical  condition.  Not 
only  were  the  women  skilled  and  healthy,  but  they 
had  learned  the  value  of  obedience  to  orders.  It 
was  that  very  discipline  which  prepared  them  to 
face  the  monotony  of  home  service,  to  confront 
the  dangers  abroad,  and  even,  when  called  on,  to 
sacrifice  their  lives. 

Madge  Neill  Fraser,  the  golf  champion,  was  one 
of  the  first  women  of  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detach- 
ments to  lay  down  her  life  with  the  Scottish  Wom- 
en's Hospitals  in  Serbia. 

In  a  tobacco  factory  at  Nish — ^where  one  thou- 
sand Serbian  typhus  patients  were  crammed  into 
rooms  less  than  twelve  feet  high,  with  only  slits 
in  the  walls  for  ventilation,  straw  on  the  stone 


FOEEWOED  vii 

floor,  on  which  the  men  flung  themselves  down  in 
their  filthy  uniforms,  whilst  on  stone  benches 
around  they  sat  in  a  state  of  torpor  waiting,  just 
waiting,  for  one  of  their  comrades  to  die  that  they 
might  take  his  place — two  of  the  women  went  of 
their  own  free  will  and  died  endeavouring  to  save 
the  life  of  a  stricken  comrade.  Dr.  Elizabeth  Eoss. 
"When  the  news  of  their  deaths  reached  England 
in  fifteen  days  500  members  of  the  Voluntary  Aid 
Detachments  volunteered  to  replace  them. 

It  required  not  only  courage  but  physical 
strength  when,  during  the  Eoumanian  retreat,  the 
women  patched  up  a  bridge  under  fire  and  brought 
across  it  over  one  hundred  ambulances  laden  with 
helpless  men.  Not  so  spectacular,  but  equally 
creditable,  was  the  action  of  those  women,  trained 
to  economy,  who,  following  in  the  rear  of  the 
retreating  Eoumanian  troops,  gathered  up  and 
piled  on  to  their  transport  wagons  the  food  that 
had  been  abandoned,  so  that  later,  coming  on  a 
band  of  starving  soldiers,  they  were  prepared  to 
feed  them. 

No  less  brave,  certainly  as  useful,  are  those 
women  who  day  after  day  cook,  sew  and  scrub. 
Theirs  is  the  quiet  heroism  of  carrying  out  a 
tedious  daily  task,  finding  consolation  in  the  reali- 
sation that  their  labour  forms  part  of  a  perfect 
whole,  a  thoroughly  well  organised  institution 
under  whose  care  human  wrecks  are  rebuilt  and 
sent  forth  clothed,  comforted  and  healed. 


viii  FOREWORD 

Not  only  have  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments 
rendered  splendid  service  to  the  Armies;  they 
have  also  taken  into  their  tender  care  the  civilians 
and  refugees.  There  must  be  thousands  of  Bel- 
gian and  Serbian  women  who  know  that  they  owe 
their  own  and  their  children's  lives  to  these  capa- 
ble and  devoted  women. 

I  have  been  asked  whether  I  believe  it  possible 
for  the  women  of  America  to  found  a  Society  simi- 
lar in  its  objects  and  organisation  to  the  Volun- 
tary Aid  Detachments.  I  answer,  without  hesi- 
tation, that,  building  on  the  basis  of  our  experi- 
ence, the  American  women  will  not  only  equal  but 
probably  surpass  the  work  we  have  accomplished. 

On  my  mission  of  mercy  across  this  great  Con- 
tinent, from  North  to  South  and  East  to  West,  I 
have  found  that  in  most  instances  my  success  was 
due  to  the  eager  and  efficient  co-operation  of  the 
women  in  each  city.  I  have  been  more  than  favor- 
ably impressed  by  the  splendid  working  systems 
of  the  Civic  Federations,  the  Women's  Clubs,  the 
great  colleges  and  girls'  schools  in  this  land.  If 
the  women  of  America  would  turn  their  genius 
for  organization  to  the  support  of  the  National 
League  for  Woman's  Service,  within  six  months 
there  would  be  existing  in  every  city,  town  and 
village  a  band  of  skilled  women  prepared  to  face 
and  deal  with  any  local  disaster  or  national  crisis. 

I  feel  certain  that  as  members  of  a  great  demo- 
cratic nation  the  American  women  realise  that  it 


FOEEWOED  ix 

is  a  duty  to  train  to  serve  the  community  as  a 
whole.  Whilst  to  those  who  willingly  shoulder 
new  responsibilities  there  will  come  the  perfect 
happiness  that  alone  is  found  in  service  and  the 
knowledge  that 

"  The  riches  of  a  commonwealth 
Are  clear  strong  minds  and  hearts  of  health. 
And  more  to  her  than  gold  or  gain 
The  cunning  hand  and  cultured  brain." 

Kathleen  Bueke. 

Santa  Barbara,  California,  March  26,  1917. 


INTEODUCTION 

WHEN  the  Voluntary  Aid  Organisation  was 
first  set  up  as  part  of  the  Territorial 
Army  Scheme  in  the  year  1909,  a  number  of  men 
and  women  in  various  Counties  joined  the  new 
Organisation  at  once  and  began  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  the  work  which  it  was  intended  to  carry 
out.  They  suffered  the  usual  fate  of  pioneers, 
and  like  the  Volunteers  in  mid- Victorian  times, 
were  subjected  to  more  or  less  good-natured  ridi- 
cule. The  War  has  changed  all  that.  In  the  first 
part  of  the  year  1914  not  many  people  knew  what 
the  letters  **V.A.D."  stood  for, — now  these  three 
letters  are  universally  recognised  and  honoured. 
Wherever  work  has  to  be  done  for  the  sick  and 
wounded  either  at  home  or  abroad  in  any  one  of 
the  numerous  War  Zones  where  our  men  are 
fighting,  there  the  V.A.D.  Member  will  be  found 
helping  the  trained  nurse  in  her  work  of  mercy. 
It  is  especially  gratifying  to  know  that  the 
trained  nurses  themselves,  who  at  the  beginning 
of  the  War  looked  with  some  misgivings  upon  the 
admission  of  partially  trained  women  into  the 
Hospitals,  are  now  the  first  to  recognise  that 
these  women  have  **made  good''  and  have  loyally 
and  efficiently  assisted  them  in  their  task.    The 

xi 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

V.A.D.  Members,  both  men  and  women,  have 
every  reason  to  be  proud  of  their  record,  and  I 
am  glad  when  any  book  such  as  this  is  written 
which  will  help  the  public  to  a  fuller  knowledge 
of  their  work. 

Abthur  Stanley. 
Chairman, 

Joint  War   Committee   of  the 
'  British  Red  Cross  Society  and 

The  Order  of  St.  John. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Foreword v 

Introduction xiii 

I.    Paying  a  Debt 1 

II.    History  of  the  V.A.D.  Movement  8 

in.    The  Formation  of  V.A.  Detach- 
ments         17 

rV.    The  Joining  of  Two  Great  Cor- 
porations           23 

V-    The    Arrival    op    Wounded    at 

Southampton          ....  33 

VI.    V.A.D.    Work    in    and    Around 

Birmingham 45 

Vn.    V.A.D.  Work  in  Manchester  and 

District 60 

Vm.    The   Bombardment   of   a   V.A.D. 

Hospital 74 

IX.    V.A.D.  Work  in  the  South  .  84 

X.    Some  of  the  Work  in  London      .  92 

XL    Air  Eaid  and  Other  Duties    .       .  106 

XII.    V.A.D.  Work  in  Ireland  ...  118 
xiii 


XIV 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XIII. 


XIV. 
XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXL 


V.A.D.  Work  in  the  Sinn  Fein 

EiOTs 127 

V.A.D.  Work  in  France  .       .       .  145 

Eed  Cross  and  St.  John  Hospitals 

IN  France 151 

Eest  Stations  in  France        .       .  164 

Detention  Hospitals  in  France  .  196 

Motor  V.A.D.  Units  in  France      .  202 

Hostels  in  France  ....  206 

V.A.D.  Work  in  French  Hospitals  215 

Canadian    and    Overseas    V.A.D. 

Work 227 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

V.A.D.  Members  in  Hospital  Work  .  Frontispiece 


FACING  PAGB 


Group  of  V.A.D.  Workers        ....  2 

New  Type  of  Ambulance 10 

Interior  of  Same  Ambulance    ....  18 

Type  of  a  Large  Number  of  Ambulances      .  28 

Portable  Motor  Bath  Car        ....  40 

Motor  X-Eay  Car 56 

Disinfectors  Mounted  on  a  Steam  Lorry      .  70 

View  of  the  Interior 70 

St.  John  Litter 86 

St.  John  Litter  Packed  for  Transport  .       .  86 
Motor  Launch  Sent  to  Mesopotamia      .       .  102 
Lady  Superintendent-in-Chief 's  Indoor  Uni- 
form      128 

Outdoor  Uniform  of  a  Lady  Superintendent- 

in-Chief 142 

Outdoor    Uniform    of    a    Commandant    of 

V.A.D 158 

Lady  District  Officer's  Uniform      .       .       .  174 
Nursing  Sister's  and  V.A.D.  Member's  In- 
door Dress 190 

Men's  Uniforms 216 


BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 


BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

CHAPTER  I 
Paying  a  Debt 

THE  Great  War  has  revealed  many  national 
truths  never  even  suspected  before  it  burst 
upon  the  world,  but  amongst  all  its  surprises 
none  has  been  greater  than  that  provided  by  the 
success  of  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachment  Move- 
ment. The  originators  of  the  scheme  knew  that 
they  were  setting  on  foot  a  necessary  bit  of  ma- 
chinery that  must  be  well  oiled  and  kept  in  run- 
ning repair  during  peace  time,  so  that  it  might 
work  smoothly  when  war  came ;  but  they  did  not 
know  that  they  were  giving  birth  to  an  organisa- 
tion that  was  to  do  more  for  the  bringing  to- 
gether of  all  classes  of  society — a  real  and  splen- 
did Socialism  that  has  no  connection  with  the 
men  or  women  who  belong  to  Socialistic  Societies 
— than  any  other  movement  has  ever  achieved. 

The  common  sorrow  of  wives  and  mothers,  who 
have  lost  their  dear  ones,  has  done  a  great  deal 
towards  this  end;  but  the  rich  woman,  in  her 
palatial  home,  grieves  for  her  equally  stricken 
sister  in  a  slum,  rather  than  with  her.    On  the 


2    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

other  hand,  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachment  au- 
thorities, in  insisting  on  one  uniform  and  the 
same  conditions  of  work  for  rich  and  poor,  cul- 
tured and  uncultured,  have  set  up  a  standard — 
lofty  because  of  its  aim,  but  lowly  in  actual  fact 
— which  all  members  must  attain  without  favour. 

** Punch"  put  his  finger  on  the  pulse  of  the 
situation  when  he  illustrated  the  raw  little  Cock- 
ney girl,  speeding  up  a  member  of  the  aristocracy 
with  some  such  remark  as  this:  **Nar  then.  Lady 
Halexandra,  juist  you  'urry  with  washing  hup 
them  plates  and  look  sharp  abaart  it." 

It  was  a  picture  true  to  life,  and  in  trying  to 
put  down  on  paper  a  record  of  what  the  British 
V.A.D.  organisation  has  done  since  the  war  com- 
menced, the  spirit  of  this  incident  will  be  shewn 
again  and  again,  under  many  guises. 

In  our  great  cities  the  effect  of  all  classes  work- 
ing together  has  been  excellent;  but  it  is  in  the 
County  towns  and  the  villages  that  the  good  re- 
sults have  been  most  marked.  The  Squire's  wife 
or  daughter,  having  belonged  to  a  V.A.D.  per- 
haps before  war  broke  out,  instantly  offered  her 
services.  Girls  serving  behind  a  counter  equally 
with  factory  girls  and  workers  of  every  grade, 
also  being  anxious  to  do  something  for  their 
country,  joined  a  Detachment  (if  not  already 
members),  whilst  men  of  every  class,  who  were 
not  joining  the  Army,  threw  in  their  lot  with  the 
V.A.D.  in  their  town.    Thus  it  came  about  that 


1  a 

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03    OJ 


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Hi 


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PAYING  A  DEBT  3 

in  the  early  months  of  the  war  men  and  women 
of  all  kinds  met  together  to  clean  down  houses 
that  were  to  be  turned  into  Hospitals,  to  act  as 
motor  drivers,  orderlies — anything  and  every- 
thing— without  the  slightest  consideration  being 
given  to  their  rank  in  life. 

A  curious  thing  happened  in  a  great  Hotel 
which  was  turned  into  a  Hospital  at  a  very  few 
hours'  notice.  A  late  manager  and  part  pro- 
prietor of  the  Hotel,  who  had  recently  retired  and 
was  living  in  the  town,  offered  to  help,  and  was 
put  to  sweeping  down  the  great  staircase  after 
the  heavy  carpets  had  been  removed.  He  had 
never  wielded  a  broom  in  his  life  and  was  strug- 
gling with  it,  not  too  successfully,  when  a  senior 
orderly  taunted  him  with  not  getting  on  with  his 
job.  The  pseudo-manager  wheeled  round  at  the 
sound  of  the  voice  and  then,  for  the  first  time,  the 
two  men  saw  each  other's  faces.  The  Senior 
Orderly  had  been  a  porter  in  the  Hotel  for  many 
years ! 

No  other  circumstances  could  have  brought 
about  such  a  true  understanding  and  apprecia- 
tion of  class  for  class  as  this  common  task  has 
done.  Work  carried  out  by  educated,  cultured 
men  and  women  in  the  slums  of  our  great  cities, 
admirable  as  it  is,  cannot  be  the  same,  because 
there  the  more  fortunate  people  are  doing  acts 
of  kindness,  if  not  of  charity,  for  those  worse  off 
than  themselves.    In  the  present  voluntary  work 


4    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

the  Duchess  and  the  factory  girl,  the  over-mili- 
tary-aged aristocrat  and  the  under-military-aged 
errand  boy  join  hands  to  do  something  for  the 
men  who  are  saving  our  Empire  from  destruction. 
It  is  not  only  a  common  foe,  a  common  cause,  but 
a  common  chord  of  love  and  tenderness  that  has 
been  touched,  and  the  response  has  been  eager, 
generous,  grateful. 

There  is  no  question  of  kindness  or  of  charity. 
It  is  the  paying  of  a  great  debt,  a  mere  matter 
of  common  honesty,  a  privilege  beyond  price. 
The  highest  privilege  goes  to  the  man  who  may 
fight  his  country's  battles,  give  his  life  for  his 
King,  risk  living  a  maimed  man  to  the  end  of 
his  days ;  next  comes  the  privilege  of  being  of  use 
to  these  men  who  are  defending  us  and  all.  we 
love. 

During  one  of  the  great  pushes,  whilst  I  was 
working  in  France  amongst  our  wounded  men  as 
they  came  down  from  the  firing  line  to  the  Base, 
they  often  said  to  me,  **How  good  you  Sisters 
are  to  us,"  and  I,  with  a  catch  in  my  throat,  al- 
ways made  one  reply.  **Good — not  a  bit  of  it. 
Where  should  we  Englishwomen  be  to-day  if  it 
were  not  for  such  as  youT'  Work  as  we  may, 
sacrifice  our  comforts,  our  pleasures,  even  our 
health,  we  non-fighters  can  never  come  within 
sight  of  paying  our  debt  to  the  men  who  have 
borne  the  heat  and  the  burden  of  the  day. 

What  is  a  **V.A.D.r' 


PAYING  A  DEBT  5 

There  is,  only  too  often,  a  misconception  about 
V.A.D.  members.  Many  people  seem  to  think 
that  a  V.A.D.  member  must  be  a  woman.  In  fu- 
ture chapters  I  hope  to  show  very  clearly  the 
wonderful  work  that  has  been  done  by  men  mem- 
bers, but  at  the  very  outset  I  want  my  readers  to 
understand  that  in  speaking  of  V.A.D.  members 
I  am  referring  as  much  to  men  as  to  women,  and 
in  fact  the  numbers  of  men's  V.A.  Detachments 
run  very  close  to  the  numbers  of  women's 
V.A.  Detachments.  People  persist  in  talking  of 
**  V.A.D. 's''  as  though  that  was  the  official  name 
for  women  Eed  Cross  workers.  It  is  entirely 
wrong,  first  because  a  V.A.D.  is  a  Detachment  and 
not  a  person,  and  secondly  a  V.A.D.  member  may 
be,  equally,  either  a  man  or  a  woman.  Many 
fully  trained  nurses  are  members  of  V.A.  Detach- 
ments. 

The  Joint  V.A.D.  Committee,  which  has  abso- 
lute control  of  every  detail  of  the  work,  at  home 
and  abroad,  is  composed  of  equal  numbers  of 
members  of  the  British  Red  Cross  Society,  the 
Ambulance  Department  of  the  Order  of  St.  John 
of  Jerusalem,  and  the  Territorial  Force  Associa- 
tion. 

The  labours  of  V.A.D.  members  have  few  limits 
nowadays.  Men  and  women,  belonging  to  V.A. 
Detachments,  are  to  be  met,  not  only  in  every 
corner  of  the  great  British  Empire,  but  also  in 
many  foreign  lands,  and  they  will  be  found  to  be 


6    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

doing  every  kind  of  national  work,  from  the  hum- 
blest of  scrubbing  and  cleaning  to  the  highest 
skilled  work  in  nursing  and  in  administration.  It 
is  a  vast  task  which  I  have  undertaken,  in  mak- 
ing even  an  endeavour  to  show  something  of  what 
the  movement  has  accomplished  and  is  now  ac- 
tually doing,  but  I  am  quite  aware  that  I  cannot 
possibly  cover  every  branch  of  V.A.D.  activity 
and  I  trust  my  readers  will  be  lenient,  whilst  I 
shall  be  content  if  I  can  give  a  general  impres- 
sion of  what  V.A.r).  members  are  doing  at  this 
crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

All  that  I  write  must  be  taken  simply  as  being 
** typical,''  for  to  give  an  account  of  each  and 
every  V.A.D.  effort  would  mean  occupying  a 
miniature  British  Museum  Library. 

The  work  is  so  colossal  that  it  is  appallingly 
dij05cult  to  pick  and  choose  as  to  which  shall  be 
mentioned  and  which  left  out,  but,  after  travel- 
ling many  thousands  of  miles  in  Great  Britain, 
in  order  to  see  V.A.D.  Units  at  work,  and  spend- 
ing nearly  a  year  in  France  as  a  V.A.D.  member 
myself,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  way  that  would 
be  most  fair  would  be  to  make  a  general  scheme 
and  try  to  give  some  impression  of  what  I  have 
been  privileged  to  see.  Having  been  qualified  in 
First  Aid  for  over  fifteen  years,  a  V.A.D.  mem- 
ber ever  since  the  movement  was  initiated,  and 
a  war  worker  from  the  day  war  broke  out,  I  have 


PAYING  A  DEBT  7 

had  peculiar  chances  of  knowing  the  inner  side 
of  the  work. 

It  was  only  after  my  return  from  France  and 
whilst  I  was  still  an  invalid  that  I  thought  again 
of  taking  up  my  long-idle  pen  and  of  attempting 
to  set  down  some  of  the  actual  facts  of  V.A.D. 
work  and  its  ramifications.  Had  I  known  the 
gigantic  dimensions  of  the  task  I  was  undertak- 
ing, my  heart  must  have  failed  me,  for  I  had  no 
idea  of  how  far  the  threads  of  the  Voluntary  Aid 
Movement  had  stretched  throughout  our  Empire. 
I  can  only  plead  for  leniency  from  my  readers 
and  to  beg  them  to  try  and  **read  between  the 
lines''  of  all  the  great  work,  the  marvellous 
achievements  and  the  unselfish  devotion  which 
have  been  displayed  by  the  organisers  and  work- 
ers, of  which  I  can  but  give  some  glimpse  in  these 
pages.  Every  individual  V.A.D.  member  who 
reads  this  record  may  well  thrill  with  pride  at  the 
fact  that  he  or  she  has  been  allowed  to  partici- 
pate in  this  great  work  of  patriotism. 


CHAPTEE  n 
History  of  the  V.A.D.  Movement 

THE  story  of  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachment 
movement  is  a  very  romantic  one,  although 
the  majority  of  people  only  see  its  wonderful  util- 
ity and  versatility,  and  have  some  faint  under- 
standing of  what  it  has  done  for  the  nation  since 
war  broke  out.  The  ordinary  citizen  knows  that  his 
daughter  has  worked,  as  she  never  worked  in  her 
life  before,  in  this  or  that  Hospital  or  at  a  Rest 
Station  perhaps,  and  that  she  has  faced  hard- 
ships and  even  dangers  abroad  with  indomitable 
pluck;  but  he  does  not  realise  the  extent  of  the 
work;  nor  does  he  know  that  this  same  thing, 
which  he  sees  in  his  own  town,  is  going  on  in 
Egypt,  in  Malta,  in  Canada,  in  India,  in  South 
Africa,  and  in  Australia,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
hundreds  of  women  who  are  doing  fine  work  be- 
hind the  firing  line  in  France. 

Although  there  are  thousands  of  members  of 
V.A.  Detachments  throughout  the  United  King- 
dom, and  indeed  throughout  the  British  Empire, 
there  are  comparatively  few  of  the  general  pub- 
lic who  really  understand  how  the  movement  was 
first  started  or  what  it  has  accomplished  since 

a 


THE  V.A.D.  MOVEMENT  9 

its  inception.  The  work  of  First  Aid  and  Home 
Nursing  was  for  many  years  in  the  hands  of  the 
St.  John  Ambulance  Association,  originally  (in 
1877-78)  started  to  form  a  civilian  reserve  to 
the  Army  Medical  Department  in  time  of  war, 
this  organisation  having  arranged  for  classes  to 
be  held  all  over  the  country ;  in  consequence  many 
thousands  of  men  and  women  knew  the  rudiments 
of  these  arts.  Then  came  the  St.  John  Ambu- 
lance Brigade,  which  was  an  outcome  of  the  As- 
sociation, the  members  of  which  undertook,  vol- 
untarily, public  duty  on  public  occasions.  But 
all  this  later  work  was  for  civilians  and  not  espe- 
cially for  war. 

During  the  South  African  war,  the  St.  John 
Ambulance  Brigade  supplied  some  2,000  men  as 
orderlies,  70  of  whom  lost  their  lives :  but  at  that 
time  there  was  no  thought  of  utilising  for  war 
work  the  women  who  belonged  to  the  Brigade 
or  to  the  Association.  In  1905  the  British  Red 
Cross  Society  was  founded,  and  it  received  its 
royal  charter  in  1908.  Of  course  the  fundamental 
object  of  this  society  was  to  supply  aid  for  home 
defence  during  war  time,  and  it  did  not  encroach 
on  the  civilian  work  which  had  been  done  for 
many  years  by  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Brigade. 
Then  there  arose  a  feeling  that  Great  Britain 
should  emulate  other  countries  in  forming  some 
sort  of  V.A.D.  organisation,  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  War  Office  schemes  were  worked  out 


10    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

in  1909  and  1910  which,  with  but  comparatively 
few  alterations,  are  adhered  to  to-day. 

Few  people  realise  that  the  V.A.  Detachments 
are  a  supplement  to  the  Territorial  Medical 
Service.  At  the  time  when  this  scheme  was 
started  a  great  many  Voluntary  Aid  Societies 
were  already  in  existence;  but  they  had  no  con- 
nection with  one  another,  and  thus,  in  acting  in- 
dependently, frequently  overlapped.  It  was  a 
wise  and  sensible  idea,  therefore,  that  Voluntary 
Aid  should  be  co-ordinated.  It  was  thought  well 
that  the  county  system,  which  had  been  followed 
by  the  Territorial  Force,  should  be  adopted ;  and 
it  has  proved  to  be  an  excellent  one,  as  each 
county  has  its  own  director  who  has  supreme 
control  of  all  the  Detachments  in  his  district, 
whilst  each  Detachment  is  complete  in  itself,  and 
can  undertake  distinct  pieces  of  work  as  separate 
units. 

The  medical  organisation  of  the  Territorial 
Force  was  sufficiently  complete  to  provide  medi- 
cal establishments  and  units  which  must  accom- 
pany troops.  It  also  provided  general  hospitals, 
but  it  lacked  such  units  as  clearing  hospitals,  sta- 
tionary hospitals,  ambulance  trains,  and  other 
formations.  The  regular  army,  of  course,  had 
all  these  units ;  but  it  was  easy  to  see  that,  should 
occasion  arise  for  the  Territorial  Force  to  be 
enormously  increased,  there  would  come  the  ne- 
cessity for  a  great  many  extra  medical  units ;  and 


3> 


THE  V.A.D.  MOVEMENT  11 

although  the  pioneers  of  the  V.A.D.  scheme  could 
scarcely  have  anticipated  such  an  overwhelming 
need  as  has  arisen  during  these  war  years,  they 
certainly  showed  extraordinary  prescience  in  pro- 
viding an  organisation  which  could  be  expanded 
to  a  limitless  extent. 

In  that  early  scheme  it  was  settled  that 
amongst  the  labours  which  the  Detachments  must 
be  able  to  undertake  were  such  as  providing  food 
and  dressings  for  improvised  ambulance  trains, 
making  rest  stations  where  these  trains  could 
halt,  running  private  hospitals  and  convalescent 
homes.  In  short,  the  scheme  was  devised  with 
the  object  of  giving  to  those  members  of  the 
civilian  population  who,  from  motives  of  patriot- 
ism and  sympathy  for  the  sick  and  wounded, 
wished  to  help  opportunities  of  offering  their 
services  for  the  performance  of  such  duties.  It 
was  realised  that  the  members  must  be  trained 
particularly  in  the  art  of  improvisation,  because 
their  work  would  be  pre-eminently  that  of  coping 
with  emergencies.  The  members  must  be  capa- 
ble of  filling  all  sorts  of  odd  niches  which  the 
regular  medical  services  could  not  afford  to  do. 

Should  the  strain  of  a  great  war  come  upon 
our  country,  trained  nurses  would  have  their 
hands  full,  and  their  skill  must  not  be  wasted; 
but  these  members,  who  would  not  be  untrained, 
but  trained  in  a  different  way,  must  be  willing 
to  do  all  the  smaller  tasks,  build,  improvise,  be 


12     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

capable  of  making  **the  best  of  a  bad  job,'*  and, 
above  all,  accept  discipline  unquestionably;  in 
short  they  must  set  forth  to  do  the  lowliest  task 
from  the  highest  motive.  This  was  the  lofty 
ideal  which  lay  behind  the  V.A.D.  organisation, 
and  I  need  not  say  how  well  it  has  been  carried 
out.  Highly  educated  women  have  learnt  to  scrub 
floors,  to  labour  with  their  hands,  to  undertake 
disagreeable  duties,  with  no  thought  of  fame  or 
glory,  but  simply  for  the  sake  of  sharing  in  the 
huge  fight  which  has  been  thrust  upon  the  British 
Empire. 

It  was  laid  down  that  members  must  learn  how 
to  prepare  country  carts  and  other  vehicles  for 
the  removal  of  stretcher  cases,  must  be  capable 
of  the  improvising  of  stretchers,  and  the  conver- 
sion of  houses,  public  buildings,  and  railway  sta- 
tions into  temporary  Hospitals. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience  the  Detachments 
were  called  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments,  there 
being  two  classes,  one  of  men  and  the  other  of 
women;  and  it  was  decided  that  various  bodies, 
approved  by  the  War  Office,  should  raise  Detach- 
ments, each  of  which  must  be  officially  numbered 
by  the  War  Office. 

Before  applicants  could  be  full  members  of  any 
Detachment,  they  had  to  pass  the  examinations 
of  recognised  bodies  approved  by  the  War  Office, 
the  chief  of  these  being  the  St.  John  Ambulance 
Association  and  the  British  Red  Cross  Society, 


THE  V.A.D.  MOVEMENT  13 

the  University  of  London,  King's  College  for 
Women,  and  the  Church  Lads'  Brigade. 

At  first  it  was  arranged  that  only  the  certifi- 
cates of  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Association 
should  be  accepted;  but  as  tim,e  went  on  and 
other  recognised  bodies  held  examinations  which 
were  up  to  the  same  standard,  it  was  felt  that 
it  would  facilitate  things  if  they  were  also  ac- 
cepted. In  many  instances,  this  has  been  a  real 
convenience  to  people  wishing  to  join  a  Detach- 
ment; but  the  large  proportion  of  certificates 
given  throughout  the  country  still  belongs  to  the 
Ambulance  Department  of  the  Order  of  St.  John 
or  the  British  Red  Cross  Society. 

The  V.A.D.  idea  was  enthusiastically  taken  up 
by  many  prominent  men  who  knew  the  needs  of 
Bed  Cross  work  in  war  time. 

The  scheme  was  got  through  very  quickly  and 
Detachments  were  formed.  The  British  Red 
Cross  Society  Detachments  at  once  registered 
themselves  as  V.A.  Detachments,  being  given  a 
W.O.  number,  and  the  majority  of  the  divisions 
of  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Brigade  and  Associa- 
tion also  registered  themselves,  thus  becoming  an 
official  part  of  the  Red  Cross  organisation  of 
Great  Britain. 

It  was  a  clever  thought  on  the  part  of  someone 
in  authority  to  keep  the  odd  numbers  for  male 
Detachments  and  the  even  numbers  for  female 


14    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Detachments.  This  fai3t  led  to  amusing  results 
recently  when  a  bewildered  lady  went  to  see  a 
British  Red  Cross  official  and  was  asked  the  num- 
ber of  her  Detachment.  On  giving  it  she  was 
courteously  told  that  it  could  not  possibly  be  that, 
whereon  she  dashed  at  another  number  and  yet 
another,  each  time  the  smiling  official  assuring 
her  that  she  must  be  wrong.  **But  how  do  you 
know!''  gasped  the  poor  lady,  who  was  very  new 
to  the  work.  It  was,  of  course,  quite  simple,  since 
in  every  case  she  had  mentioned  odd  numbers ! 

It  is  true  that  an  enormous  number  of  Detach- 
ments have  been  formed  since  the  war  began,  but 
they  have  been  built  on  the  solid  rock  of  knowl- 
edge and  experience  which  were  the  foundation 
stones  of  the  Detachments  formed  in  1910  and 
the  years  following.  At  first  the  St.  John  Am- 
bulance Brigade  and  the  British  Red  Cross  So- 
ciety held  the  ground  almost  exclusively;  but  in 
some  places,  where  the  Territorial  Force  Asso- 
ciation was  a  very  alert  body.  Territorial  V.A. 
Detachments  already  existed. 

Looking  back  on  those  years  of  peace,  it  is 
curious  to  remember  the  various  stages  of  effi- 
ciency of  the  various  units.  Some  Commandants 
were  exceedingly  up-to-date  and  in  earnest  over 
their  work,  their  members  taking  a  yearly  ex- 
amination in  First  Aid  and  also  eagerly  attend- 
ing lectures  and  passing  examinations  in  such 
relative    subjects    as    field   sanitation,   hygiene, 


THE  V.A.D.  MOVEMENT  15 

laundry,  and  invalid  cooking.  These  Detach- 
ments would  make  tremendous  efforts  to  go  into 
camp  for  a  week  or  a  fortnight  during  the  sum- 
mer, when  they  lived  the  real  camp  life,  cooking 
in  field  kitchens,  building  their  own  field  incine- 
rators, and  improvising  hospital  and  transport 
equipment  out  of  the  most  unpromising  material. 

Other  Detachments  were  content  to  meet  occa- 
sionally for  a  medical  lecture,  and  to  scrape 
through  the  yearly  inspection  which  was  insisted 
upon  by  the  War  Office  officials.  This  same  dis- 
crepancy of  standard  existed  throughout  the 
United  Kingdom  and  perhaps  was  the  weak  spot 
in  the  working  out  of  the  scheme.  In  the  first 
years  of  the  organisation,  the  political  horizon 
was  completely  clear  of  war  clouds,  and  a  great 
deal  of  good-natured  chaff  was  levelled  at  the 
members  of  Detachments  who  took  their  work 
seriously.  It  was  very  much  easier  for  the  De- 
tachments belonging  to  the  St.  John  Ambulance 
Brigade  to  go  forward  with  the  work  in  hand, 
because,  side  by  side  with  it,  they  were  constantly 
called  out  for  actual  work  for  civilian  purposes. 
Great  credit  must  therefore  be  given  to  the  De- 
tachments of  the  B.R.C.S.  and  other  organisa- 
tions where  a  high  standard  of  efficiency  was  de- 
manded by  the  Commandants,  and  attained. 

I  very  well  remember  paying  a  week-end  visit 
to  a  camp  of  a  B.R.C.S.  Detachment  in  the  July 
preceding   the   outbreak   of   war.     Even   then, 


16     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

though  the  preliminary  tragedy  had  happened  in 
Austria,  no  one  seriously  contemplated  that  war 
would  touch  our  own  nation.  A  friend,  looking 
at  the  strenuous  work  going  on  in  the  camp,  said, 
**Why  do  they  do  it?  They  will  never  be  needed 
for  the  real  thing.''  Within  a  couple  of  months, 
that  very  Detachment  was  hard  at  work,  and  its 
years  of  patient  endeavour  bore  fruit  which  was 
of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  country. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Formation  of  V.A.  Detachments 

IT  could  have  been  no  easy  matter  to  settle  on 
the  exact  formation  of  a  Detachment;  but 
again,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  scheme  has 
needed  practically  no  alteration,  and  that  in  the 
printed  papers  first  issued  by  the  War  Office  the 
orders  are  almost  identical  with  those  which  are 
in  force  to-day.  The  composition  of  men's  De- 
tachments were: — 

One  Commandant 
One  medical  officer 
One  Quartermaster 
One  pharmacist 
Four  section  leaders 
Forty-eight  men. 

The  women's  Detachments  were  considerably 
smaller,  and  had  only  one  Commandant  (man  or 
woman),  one  Quartermaster  (man  or  woman), 
one  Lady  Superintendent  (preferably  a  trained 
nurse),  and  twenty  women,  of  whom  four  should 
be  qualified  as  cooks. 

V.A.D.  's  form  part  of  the  technical  reserve.  No 
Detachment  could  be  registered  at  the  War  Office 

17 


18    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

unless  it  had  enrolled  at  least  70  per  cent  of  the 
above  complement.  Detachments  were  invited  to 
make  a  list  of  the  equipment  which  they  could 
promise  to  give  in  the  event  of  necessity,  and 
certainly  a  majority,  if  not  all,  had  a  certain 
amount  of  linen,  beds,  and  hospital  stores  in  re- 
serve. In  the  beginning  it  was  supposed  that  the 
Detachments  would  only  be  used  for  home  de- 
fence, in  exactly  the  same  way  as  the  Territorials 
were  not  supposed  to  be  sent  abroad;  but  we  all 
know  how  these  ideas  have  been  flung  to  the 
winds,  and  how  eagerly  the  men  of  the  Territorial 
Force  and  the  members  of  the  Detachments  have 
sought  for  the  honour  of  going  abroad,  the  one 
to  fight  and  the  other  to  succour  the  sick  and 
wounded. 

In  the  event  of  mobilisation,  each  member  of 
a  Detachment,  when  called  up  for  service,  was  to 
be  provided  with  an  identity  certificate,  and  was 
to  wear,  fixed  to  the  left  arm,  an  armlet  or  bras- 
sard with  a  red  cross  on  a  white  ground,  deliv- 
ered and  stamped  by  a  competent  military  au- 
thority. This,  of  course,  was  in  conformity  with 
the  Geneva  Convention,  under  which  the  Detach- 
ments work.  No  one  is  immune  from  attack  from 
the  enemy  who  does  not  wear  the  protecting  sign 
of  the  international  Red  Cross. 

It  is  curious  how  much  ignorance  exists  on  this 
point,  and  even  to-day  people  do  not  understand 
that  this  simple  red  cross  does  not  belong  to  any 


Interior  of  the  new  type  St.  John  ambulance,  a  side  view  of  which 
is  shown  in  another  illustration. 


THE  V.A.  DETACHMENTS  19 

one  society,  but  is  the  right  of  every  man  and 
woman  officially  working  for  the  wounded,  pro- 
vided their  country  subscribed  its  name  to  the 
great  Geneva  Convention  in  1906.  Therefore,  di- 
rectly a  unit  was  mobilised  by  the  "War  Office,  its 
members  had  to  be  protected  by  being  given  the 
official  sign  of  their  work,  and  it  was  no  idle  re- 
mark that  was  made  to  a  V.A.D.  member  when 
she  was  setting  forth  for  France,  ^*  Without  your 
brassard  you  will  not  be  safe  from  arrest  for  a 
single  moment." 

Unhappily  the  enemy  has  not  played  the  game 
with  regard  to  the  laws  of  the  Geneva  Conven- 
tion, and  it  has  even  become  a  saying  that  the 
flying  of  the  red  cross  is  a  positive  attraction  for 
bombs  or  for  shell,  instead  of  being  a  protection 
as  was  intended;  but  we  can  be  proud  of  the 
fact  that  we  have  strictly  kept  to  all  the  laws  of 
the  agreement  made  in  Geneva.  We  know  from 
first-hand  knowledge  that  German  wounded  have 
been  treated  so  well  by  our  Red  Cross  people  that 
our  own  wounded  have  been  tempted  to  be  jealous 
of  them,  in  a  laughing  kind  of  way. 

There  have  been  some  cruel  cases  of  Germans 
turning  upon  the  British  man  or  woman  w^ho  was 
dressing  their  wounds  and  attending  to  their 
needs;  but  we  realise  that  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  German  army  has  been  fed  upon  lies  about 
us  for  many  a  long  year,  and  that  it  is  not  the 
fault  of  the  individual  so  much  as  of  the  system, 


20    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

which  has  been  carried  out  with  wicked  per- 
sistency in  Germany.  It  is  only  fair  to  say,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  there  are  instances  when  the 
German  wounded  have  been  really  grateful:  in 
one  case  I  am  speaking  from  personal  experience, 
and  in  the  other  from  first-hand  knowledge. 

In  this  connection,  I  may  say  that  Austrians, 
when  taken  prisoners,  have  shown  themselves  to 
be  very  different  from  the  Germans ;  and  although 
I  have  had  no  personal  dealings  with  them,  I  know 
from  many  friends  who  have  worked  on  that  part 
of  the  front  that  the  Austrians  made  most  excel- 
lent orderlies  and  were  extremely  courteous  to 
the  British  people.  A  R.A.M.C.  man  lately  back 
from  the  East  said  he  had  seen  a  Turk  dress  the 
wounds  of  an  Englishman  and  then  drag  him 
back  to  the  parapet  of  the  British  trenches,  where 
he  left  him  to  be  found  by  our  men! 

It  was  at  first  thought  that  no  uniform  would 
be  necessary  for  the  members  of  Detachments, 
but  that  they  would  simply  wear  a  distinctive 
brassard.  This  must  not  be  confused  with  the 
brassard  which  is  given  after  mobilisation.  Dur- 
ing peace  time,  an  armlet  was  worn,  or  rather  a 
design  to  be  put  upon  an  armlet,  on  which  ap- 
peared the  registered  number  of  the  Detachment. 
This  was  worn  on  the  left  arm,  and  is  still  being 
worn  by  many  members  who  are  doing  excellent 
work  but  have  not  been  officially  mobilised.  The 
St.  John  Ambulance  Brigade  members,  of  course. 


THE  V.A.  DETACHMENTS  21 

already  had  their  uniforms,  and  many  of  the 
B.R.C.S.  Detachments  were  in  uniform  long  be- 
fore the  war  broke  out.  A  few  Detachments 
under  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Association  and 
the  Territorial  Association  were  also  uniformed; 
but  the  majority  of  these  had  not  thought  it  nec- 
essary to  go  to  this  expense.  Since  the  war  com- 
menced, all  mobilised  units  have  worn  full  uni- 
form of  one  sort  or  another.  It  has  been  a  wise 
proceeding  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  at  the 
head  of  the  organisation  to  allow  the  Detach- 
ments to  retain  the  distinctive  uniforms  of  their 
own  societies.  In  all  cases  members  pay  for  their 
own  uniforms  and  their  incidental  expenses,  so 
that  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  expect  them  to  pur- 
chase a  particular  V.A.D.  uniform ;  but  it  is  prac- 
tically, with  very  few  exceptions,  confined  now 
to  the  black  and  white  or  grey  uniform  of  St. 
John  or  the  blue  uniform  of  the  B.R.C.S.  Quite 
recently  there  has  been  a  change  of  cap,  a  small 
handkerchief  cap  having  been  universally  adopted 
for  V.A.D.  members  of  all  societies. 

To  say  that  minor  difficulties  have  not  arisen 
between  the  various  societies  would  be  ridiculous ; 
but  it  is  a  very  delightful  fact  that  the  members 
have  worked  together  in  much  harmony  through- 
out these  strenuous  years.  Perhaps  abroad,  more 
than  at  home,  the  distinctiveness  of  societies  has 
been  lost  sight  of,  and  members  have  found  the 
common  cause  of  the  wounded  sufficient  to  round 


22     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

off  the  little  corners  of  individual  preference ;  to- 
gether they  have  thrown  themselves  into  this 
labour  of  love — a  labour  which  they  truly  con- 
sider to  be  one  of  the  greatest  honours  which 
could  fall  to  the  lot  of  a  British  subject. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Joining  of  Two  Great  Corpoeations 

JUST  as  the  two  great  rivers,  the  Rhone  and 
the  Arve,  run  side  by  side  for  many  miles, 
without  mingling,  each  keeping  its  distinctive 
colour  and  character,  so  for  many  years  the  two 
great  Red  Cross  Corporations  of  Great  Britain 
ran  side  by  side  without  intimate  relationship. 

The  British  Red  Cross  Society,  which  was  ac- 
tually Incorporated  by  Royal  Charter  in  1908, 
was  the  outcome  of  the  much  older  National  So- 
ciety for  Aid  to  Sick  and  Wounded  in  "War,  and 
was  formed  with  one  great  object  of  rendering 
assistance  to  the  country  in  the  time  of  war. 

The  other.  The  Ambulance  Department  of  the 
Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  (incorporated 
again  in  1888  on  the  ancient  foundations  laid  by 
the  Knights  Hospitaller  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem 
who  went  forth  to  succour  Christians  in  the 
Eleventh  Century),  worked  all  through  the  years 
of  peace  whilst  giving  extensive  help  during  the 
South  African  War.  The  civilian  work  of  the  St. 
John  Ambulance  Brigade  is  comparatively  little 
known,  greatly  because  its  members  are  enjoined 
to  labour  humbly  and  in  silence,  like  their 
Knights  of  old,  but  thousands  of  men  and  women 


24     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

have  worked  (entirely  voluntarily)  in  its  ranks 
for  the  rendering  of  First  Aid  to  the  injured  and 
the  sick  on  all  kinds  of  public  occasions  and  have 
thus,  unconsciously,  been  trained  for  the  sad 
work  which  now  has  to  be  done  by  all  Red  Cross 
members. 

During  the  years  of  peace  many  of  those  in 
high  authority  in  these  Societies  were  closely  in 
touch  with  one  another,  but  the  two  organisations 
ran  separately  and  individually.  In  1910  the 
Voluntary  Aid  Detachment  scheme  was  started 
and  Detachments  were  registered  from  all  over 
the  country  by  both  Societies  and  by  the  Terri- 
torial Force  Association,  but  still  there  were  no 
signs  of  commingling. 

When  the  great  cloud  burst  and  war  was  de- 
clared, thousands  of  V.A.D.  members,  men  and 
women,  sprang  to  attention,  and  rendered  in- 
stantaneous and  valuable  services  in  divers  direc- 
tions. The  work  devolving  on  the  two  Societies 
was  prodigious  and  it  can  easily  be  realised  that 
double  labour  was  entailed  because  it  was  being 
done  dually  instead  of  singly. 

Slowly,  at  first,  but  surely,  the  two  great  rivers 
of  mercy  and  tenderness  converged,  until  in  Oc- 
tober, 1914,  they  were  officially  joined  in  one  huge 
stream  of  loving  endeavour.  Here  is  another  out- 
come of  war  and  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  join- 
ing together  of  these  two  powerful  forces  must 
make  for  strength,  for  charity  and  for  supreme 


TWO  GREAT  CORPORATIONS         25 

usefulness.  Joined  without  either  losing  indi- 
viduality or  identity,  the  Order  of  St.  John  and 
the  British  Red  Cross  have  worked  together  for 
over  two  years  with  the  greatest  success. 

Thus,  the  calamity  of  war  has  created  a  bond 
of  sympathy,  not  only  between  individuals,  but 
between  two  powerful  institutions.  This  is  no 
time  for  petty  quarrels,  and  whilst  the  country 
welcomes  a  national  Government,  the  Military 
authorities  and  all  who  are  interested  in  Red 
Cross  work  must  be  glad  to  see  the  union  of  two 
great  Societies,  which  work  with  the  object  of  giv- 
ing the  very  best  help,  the  most  skilled,  the  most 
efficient  assistance,  to  every  individual  man  who 
has  been  wounded  or  has  become  sick  in  the 
service  of  his  country. 

The  joining  of  the  British  Red  Cross  Society 
and  the  St.  John  Ambulance  made  whole,  in  the 
most  beautiful  sense,  a  wonderful  chain  of  mercy, 
the  links  of  which  are  composed  of  lofty  and 
lowly  tasks  alike,  given  in  humbleness  of  spirit 
and  true  gratitude  by  those  who  are  denied  the 
greatest  honour  of  joining  the  King's  fighting 
forces. 

Enough  has  been  said  of  the  birth  of  this  won- 
derful voluntary  movement,  but  before  plunging 
into  my  task  I  would  like  to  give  some  idea  of 
the  plan  upon  which  I  hope  to  work.  First  I  want 
to  give  a  picture,  as  I  saw  it,  of  the  arrival  in 


26     BRITAIN  »S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

England  of  our  wounded  men  in  Hospital  ships 
and  of  their  rapid  transfer  to  Hospital  trains. 
We  will  travel  in  one  of  these  trains  and  will  step 
off  (with  thankfulness  in  our  hearts  that  one  has 
not  to  be  carried  on  a  stretcher  like  so  many  of 
our  men)  at  several  great  centres  and  take 
a  look  at  what  is  going  on,  say  at  Birmingham 
and  at  Manchester,  since  these  are  two  of  our 
largest  cities.  Then  we  will  take  a  run  down 
South  and  perhaps  make  a  call  on  London  on 
our  way  back,  and  must  certainly  board  one  of 
the  North-going  trains  and  see  all  the  marvellous 
work  that  is  going  on  on  the  South  side  of  the 
Tweed.  Lancashire  must  be  peeped  at  and  we 
will  brave  the  perils  of  the  Irish  crossing  and  see 
for  ourselves  what  V.A.D.  workers  did  during  the 
Sinn  Fein  riots  and  are  doing  for  our  wounded. 

Then  from  across  the  sea  we  must  get  news  of 
the  great  work.  That  in  France  must  hold  first 
place  amongst  foreign  fields  and  it  will  not  be 
easy  to  get  away  from  its  fascination  to  give  fair 
due  to  our  men  and  women  who  are  making 
V.A.D.  history  in  Egypt,  India,  Malta  and  a  dozen 
other  parts  of  the  Empire,  whilst  other  valiant 
souls  are  giving  urgently  needed  help  to  Serbians, 
Russians,  Italians  and  all  the  other  allied  coun- 
tries. 

None  of  the  reports  can  be  exhaustive,  but 
merely  typical,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that 
what  is  actually  written  about  one  place  is  true 


TWO  GREAT  CORPORATIONS         27 

of  a  hundred  others,  for  the  spirit  of  emulation 
has  been  so  strong,  the  devotion  to  duty  so  amaz- 
ing, that  it  would  be  absolutely  untrue  to  say  that 
members  of  any  one  Society  had  worked  better 
than  others,  or  that  one  Unit  or  any  group  of 
Units  had  surpassed  others.  In  a  few  instances 
possibly,  the  standard  of  work  is  specially  high, 
but  in  this  book  I  do  not  intend  to  deal  with  ex- 
ceptions but  with  the  average  of  the  work,  speak- 
ing individually  of  any  one  Unit  only  as  being 
typical  of  a  hundred  Units,  and  giving  names  and 
places  of  the  few  only  because  they  give  point 
and  meaning  to  the  whole.  A  general  report,  ab- 
solutely vague,  would  lose  all  personality,  but  it 
is  for  that  reason  only  that  any  names  are  men- 
tioned and  not  because  these  Units  are  in  any 
way  better  than  their  neighbours. 

The  common  cause  has  gripped  the  hearts  of 
V.A.D.  workers,  whether  they  wear  the  blue  uni- 
form of  the  British  Red  Cross  Society  or  the  grey , 
of  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  It  is  fine 
to  see  that  the  spirit  of  entire  impartiality,  which 
has  always  pervaded  the  Joint  Committee,  has 
descended  to  the  individual  members  of  the  Units, 
who  realise  that  in  their  own  hands — roughened 
with  lowly  toil — they  hold  the  honour  of  the  whole 
personnel  of  the  voluntary  Red  Cross  organisa- 
tion of  Great  Britain. 

Perhaps  here  I  may  quote  the  actual  words  of 
General  Sir  Arthur  Sloggett,  Director-General  of 


28     BRITAIN  ^S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Medical  Services.  He  says,  **I  have  the  highest 
admiration  for  them,  for  the  V.A.D.  members 
have  performed  their  duty,  and  I  have  repeat- 
edly said  that  they  are  one  of  the  great  features 
of  the  Medical  operations  of  the  war  and  that  we 
could  not  have  got  on  without  them.'' 

Work  at  Headquarters. 

No  more  noble  or  self-sacrificing  work  is  under- 
taken by  any  group  of  Voluntary  Aid  workers 
than  that  which  entails  daily  attendance  at  Head- 
quarters for  the  carrying  out  of  dull,  routine, 
clerical  work. 

Before  the  joining  of  the  St.  John  Ambulance 
and  the  British  Red  Cross  Society,  the  Head- 
quarters of  the  former,  the  ancient  and  historic 
St.  John's  Gate,  Clerkenwell,  was  an  extremely 
busy  place,  whilst  the  same  thing  could  be  said 
of  the  B.R.C.S.  Headquarters.  Very  soon  after 
the  outbreak  of  war  the  Duke  of  Devonshire 
most  generously  offered  the  use  of  Devonshire 
House,  his  magnificent  residence  in  Piccadilly, 
for  the  use  of  the  Society,  and  later  the  fine 
premises  of  the  Automobile  Club,  83  Pall  Mall, 
were  also  offered  for  the  same  purpose.  Now 
that  all  British  Red  Cross  work  is  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Joint  Committee  it  has  been  arranged 
that  the  various  departments  should  have  their 
permanent  abodes  at  Pall  Mall  and  Devonshire 
House.    At  the  former  there  are  the  chiefs  of  all 


TWO  GREAT  CORPORATIONS         29 

the  great  departments  which  control  the  sending 
out  of  doctors,  nurses,  stores  and  the  thousand 
and  one  items  which  are  dealt  with  in  such  won- 
derful detail  that  complete  efficiency  is  the  re- 
sult, whilst  at  Devonshire  House  everything  con- 
nected with  the  selection  and  appointment  of 
women  V.A.D.  members  is  arranged  for. 

A  Peep  at  Devonshire  House, 

The  moment  one  enters  the  entrance  hall,  one 
is  met  by  the  hall  orderly — a  girl  in  uniform — 
who  enquires  your  business  and  obtains  audience 
for  you,  if  possible,  with  the  particular  person 
you  wish  to  see.  At  the  back  of  the  hall  the 
Matron  interviews  every  candidate  for  work  in 
a  Hospital  and  writes  a  report  upon  the  appli- 
cant which  is  of  great  value  to  the  selection 
Board. 

Upstairs,  there  is  a  series  of  rooms  with  con- 
necting doors.  It  is  curious  to  see  them  filled 
with  busy,  methodical  women  in  place  of  the  gay 
crowds  which  one  has  seen  there  on  enjoyment 
bent  before  the  war.  How  many  times  Royalties 
have  graced  these  very  rooms  with  their  presence 
at  the  great  Ducal  balls  and  gatherings ;  now  in 
the  place  of  the  lilt  of  dance  music  there  comes 
the  hum  of  the  typewriter,  and  instead  of  pretty 
speeches  being  made  to  fair  maidens,  girls, 
anxious  to  do  their  country's  work,  are  looked  at 
squarely,  uncompromisingly  by  women  who  have 


30     BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

learned  to  sum  up  character  and  to  sift  the  wheat 
from  the  chaff. 

First  we  enter  the  Filing  Room  where  every- 
thing is  filed  which  comes  in  and  has  any  refer- 
ence to  any  girl  or  woman  who  applies  for  work 
under  the  Joint  Committee.  Then  comes  the 
Indexing  Room  where  workers  must  have  fully 
mastered  the  intricacies  of  filing,  for  here  is  kept 
a  complete  record  of  each  applicant  under  vari- 
ous headings.  All  those  who  have  passed  the  se- 
lection Board  are  pigeon-holed  here  and  there  is 
a  fine  reserve  of  workers  who  can  be  sent  out  at 
a  moment's  notice.  By  a  clever  system  it  can  be 
seen  exactly  how  many  members  are  working  in 
every  hospital  or  in  any  capacity  whatsoever,  and 
if  anyone  gives  notice  she  is  leaving  on  a  certain 
day  a  tab  is  dropped  from  the  file  to  indicate  that 
her  place  is  to  be  filled  on  that  day.  The  system 
is  simplicity  itself  and  works  admirably. 

Members  are  working  in  Belgium,  Egypt, 
Malta,  Salonica,  Russia,  Serbia,  Roumania  and 
Italy,  and  each  one  has  her  place  in  this  Index 
in  Devonshire  House. 

Then  we  come  to  what  is  known  as  the  Central 
Index,  but  it  is  in  fact  the  V.A.D.  life-story  of 
every  member  who  has  ever  worked  under  the 
Red  Cross.  Here  all  the  records  are  centralised, 
as  it  were,  put  neatly  in  compact  form  but  quite 
irrefutable,  so  that  no  arguments  can  arise  as  to 
what  services  have  been  rendered.    It  is  a  big 


TWO  GREAT  CORPORATIONS         31 

work,  for  there  are  thousands  and  thousands  of 
name's  to  be  recorded,  and  everything  must  be 
kept  up-to-date  or  the  Record  would  be  useless. 
Every  girl  who  enters  an  Auxiliary  Hospital  at 
home  or  abroad  has  her  record  here,  whilst  in 
another  room  the  same  thing  is  done  for  those 
members  who  are  at  work  in  Miltary  Hospitals. 

Uniform. 

The  question  of  uniform  is  not  an  easy  one  to 
deal  with,  but  there  is  a  special  department  at 
Devonshire  House  where  a  little  group  of  work- 
ers do  nothing  else  but  answer  queries  and  settle 
small  details.  Perhaps  it  would  be  interesting  to 
give  a  rough  outline  of  the  exact  ranks  and  their 
correct  V.A.D.  uniforms. 

First  there  comes  the  Commandant-in- Chief, 
(Mrs.  Furse). 

It  was  decided  that  St.  John  and  British  Red 
Cross  members  should  keep  to  their  original  dis- 
tinctive colours,  the  former  having  always  ad- 
hered to  the  colours  of  the  Order  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem  (black  and  white  or  grey),  and  the  lat- 
ter to  blue,  white  and  red. 

There  are  various  staff  appointments  which 
come  immediately  in  rank  after  Mrs.  Furse,  but 
I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  to  mention  them 
all  in  detail  with  the  exception  of  Lady  Perrott, 
Lady-Superintendent-in-Chief  of  the  St.  John 
Ambulance  Brigade,  and  Lady  Oliver,  Mrs.  Cane, 


32     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Mrs.  Dakyn  and  Miss  Crowdy.  Then  there  are 
Commandants  and  Quartermasters  to  each  De- 
tachment and  the  members. 

Downstairs  there  is  the  Stationery  Room,  in  a 
bywater  of  the  great  house,  but  nevertheless  a 
very  important  place,  where  every  department 
goes  for  stationery  and  printed  goods  of  all  kinds. 

The  Postoffice,  too,  perhaps,  would  seem  to  be 
a  dull  piece  of  work,  but  the  members  there  have 
a  busy  time  with  entering  up  the  hundreds  of  let- 
ters which  are  received  and  sent  out,  the  wires 
and  all  the  odds  and  ends  which  come  under  the 
term  *'post." 

Devonshire  House  is  a  miniature  of  the  greater 
offices  at  Pall  Mall,  but  at  both  headquarters  it 
is  noticeable  how  methodically  everything  is  car- 
ried out  and  on  what  a  business  footing  every- 
thing is  done.  Probably  nine  out  of  ten  of  these 
voluntary  workers  are  amateurs  in  so  far  that 
they  have  learned  to  do  this  work  since  the  war 
began,  but  there  is  nothing  amateurish  about 
their  methods  for  they  have  been  drilled  into 
efficiency  by  those  who  were  themselves  efficient. 
The  work  swings  along  at  a  fine  pace,  increasing 
day  by  day,  but  the  workers  cheerily  shoulder 
their  burdens  with  the  same  determination  to 
**win  through"  which  we  see  in  our  men,  who  go 
back  again  and  again  to  the  trenches  with  a  smile 
upon  their  faces  and  a  song  upon  their  lips. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Areival  of  Wounded  at  Southampton 

NOTHING  more  beautiful,  nor  yet  more  sad, 
can  be  seen  than  a  Hospital  ship,  bringing 
to  the  homeland  her  load  of  broken  humanity. 
My  memory  holds  many  ineffaceable  war  pic- 
tures, but  of  them  all  none  is  clearer  than  that 
of  a  great  Hospital  ship  leaving  Boulogne  har- 
bour one  winter 's  evening.  I  was  returning  from 
leave,  and  the  Channel  boat  had  to  lay  aside  to 
allow  the  ship  of  mercy  to  pass  out  from  the 
French  harbour.  There  was  the  background  of 
the  town,  with  myriads  of  dim  lights  gleaming 
on  its  many  terraces,  whilst  from  the  blackness 
of  the  surrounding  sea  there  shone  out  the  huge 
red  crosses,  illumined  by  electric  light,  from  the 
sides  of  the  white  ship,  belted  with  a  green  band. 
From  the  dozens  of  portholes  there  streamed 
light,  and  from  the  decks.  She  was  majestic, 
beautiful,  elegant  in  her  fine  proportions,  but  she 
was  a  palace  of  pain  at  best,  though  the  pain  was 
mitigated  by  every  possible  care  and  comfort  and 
above  all  by  the  knowledge  that  the  ship  was  Eng- 
land-bound ! 
Day  by  day  these  ships  come  to  the  berth  in 

33 


34     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Southampton  Docks  and  discharge  their  load.  A 
very  large  number  of  the  orderlies  on  them  are 
members,  either  of  St.  John  or  British  Red  Cross 
V.A.  Detachments,  but  they  are  disguised  by  their 
R.A.M.C.  uniforms.  The  Matron  of  one  of  the 
biggest  Hospital  ships  said  that  she  had  found 
these  men  wonderful  in  their  work,  well-disci- 
plined, steady,  willing  and  cheery.  It  is  not  a 
light  nor  a  delightful  task  that  falls  to  the  share 
of  the  Ship-Orderly. 

**Last  night  we  had  a  dreadfully  rough  pas- 
sage," said  the  matron,  **and  most  of  us  were 
sick,  even  the  orderlies  and  the  doctors.  But 
none  of  them  gave  in.  Nearly  all  the  patients  too 
were  sick  and  you  can  just  imagine  the  amount 
of  work  it  made  for  the  orderlies." 

Yet  in  the  morning  they  were  all  cheery  as  they 
lifted  the  stretchers  and  carried  them  along  the 
narrow  alleyways.  The  great  saloon,  which  in 
by-gone  days  had  been  the  scene  of  hundreds  of 
festive  meals,  now  accommodates  row  upon  row 
of  beds,  whilst  the  steerage,  cleaned  and  whitened 
in  true  ward-fashion,  is  a  mass  of  beds,  ranged 
in  symmetrical  lines.  There  are  lifts  from  deck 
to  deck  and  every  contrivance  has  been  thought 
of  so  that  the  patients  may  be  moved  comfortably 
and  quickly.  The  ship's  orderlies  get  the  men 
ready  for  removal,  the  doctors  and  Sisters,  of 
course,  having  done  the  dressings,  and  then  there 
come  aboard  stretcher-bearer  parties  who  take 


WOUNDED  AT  SOUTHAMPTON        35 

the  patients  off  the  ship  and  put  them  in  the  warm 
sheds  on  the  berth  or  in  the  Hospital  train. 

Here  again  we  meet  many  V.A.D.  workers 
though  they  wear  the  Army  uniform  and  actually 
belong  to  the  E.A.M.C.  But  enquire  into  their 
history  and  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  that  a 
large  percentage  of  them  originally  were  mem- 
bers of  a  Eed  Cross  Detachment.  It  is  a  joy  to 
see  how  well  they  lift  the  men,  changing  them 
from  bed  to  stretcher  with  almost  imperceptible 
movements.  The  gangway  from  ship  to  berth  is 
covered  in  so  that  the  patients  are  never  for  a 
moment  in  the  open,  and  an  R.A.M.C.  officer  is  at 
hand  to  direct  each  stretcher  party,  either  to  a 
certain  ward  in  the  waiting  Hospital  train  or  to 
the  sheds,  warmed  by  electric  stoves,  where  they 
are  deposited  for  a  short  time.  As  far  as  pos- 
sible all  patients  are  sent  to  Hospitals  near  to 
their  homes ;  this  entails  a  lot  of  work  but  gives 
great  joy  to  the  men. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  war  a  wonder- 
ful labour  of  love  and  generosity  has  been  car- 
ried out  very  quietly  and  unostentatiously  by 
two  girls.  They  actually  belong,  one  to  a  British 
Red  Cross  and  the  other  to  a  St.  John  Detach- 
ment, but  they  started  a  special  bit  of  work  of 
their  own  and  are  steadfastly  keeping  to  it. 

In  those  terrible  weeks  when  the  Belgian  towns 
fell,  one  after  the  other,  and  Belgian  wounded  and 
refugees  poured  into  England,  Southampton  was 


36     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

the  main  landing-place,  and  helpers  were  needed 
to  feed  the  poor,  hungry  people,  who  had  been 
driven  out  of  their  country.  Volunteers  there 
were  in  plenty  and  for  some  time  a  canteen  was 
run  in  the  Docks.  It  was  then  that  the  Misses 
Tebbutt  began  to  distribute  chocolate  and  cigar- 
ettes to  the  Belgian  soldiers.  Whilst  doing  this 
they  heard  that  there  had  arrived  a  Hospital 
ship  laden  with  British  wounded.  They  asked 
and  gained  permission  from  the  dockyard  mili- 
tary authorities  to  be  allowed  to  give  these  small 
comforts  to  the  British  soldiers. 

Ever  since  that  day  these  two  girls  have  met 
each  Hospital  ship  (with  a  very  few  exceptions) 
and  have  given  a  kindly  greeting  to  our  men. 
They  do  not  wear  uniform  of  any  kind,  and  now 
they  are  the  only  women  allowed  on  the  berth, 
as  the  authorities  had  to  keep  very  strictly  to 
certain  rules  in  order  that  the  moving  of  the 
wounded  should  not  be  hindered  in  any  way. 
The  Misses  Tebbutt  have  such  excellent  tact,  as 
well  as  good  organisation,  that  they  never  get  *  *  in 
the  way,"  giving  their  cheery  greetings  and  their 
gifts  after  the  men  have  been  put  in  the  sheds 
or  in  the  train.  They  have  had  boxes  made  which 
carry  several  kinds  of  cigarettes  and  of  chocolate, 
and  they  also  have  slung  on  to  them  a  clever 
pouch  with  many  pockets  containing  postcards, 
pencils,  matches  and  newspapers.  Not  an  officer 
or  man  is  missed,  but  it  often  means  quick  work 


WOUNDED  AT  SOUTHAMPTON        37 

when  two  ships  are  in  at  the  same  time  and  each 
girl  has  to  do  a  whole  shipload  of  men.  The  en- 
tire cost  of  these  gifts  has  been  borne  by  the 
Misses  Tebbutt  and  their  friends,  so  that  no  pub- 
lic funds  have  been  drawn  upon  for  this  splendid 
little  welcome  which  is  given  to  our  men  the  mo- 
ment they  touch  the  soil  of  the  Homeland. 

A  good  hot  drink  is  given  by  the  authorities  to 
all  the  patients  before  the  train  moves  off,  and 
of  course  on  the  journey  itself  they  have  excel- 
lent hot  meals. 

Detention  Hospital  in  the  Docks. 

But  sometimes  it  happens  that  a  patient  will 
have  to  be  kept  in  the  Docks  for  several  hours 
and  in  order  that  these  should  be  thoroughly  well 
looked  after,  there  exists  a  small  Detention  Hos- 
pital in  the  Docks,  close  to  the  berths  of  the  Hos- 
pital ships. 

This  little  Hospital  has  the  honourable  distinc- 
tion of  having  been  one  of  the  very  first  to  open 
its  doors  to  the  wounded,  for  it  was  ready,  with 
six  beds,  in  the  very  early  days  of  August,  1914. 
It  was  staffed  by  the  Southampton  Detachment 
of  the  British  Red  Cross  Society,  and  from  that 
day  to  this  the  Commandant  and  two  members, 
together  with  a  very  capable  R.A.M.C.  sergeant 
and  a  few  orderlies,  have  lived  and  worked  there. 
The  building  is  a  wooden  structure  with  several 
rooms  in  it  and  in  peace  time  it  was  used  for  very 


38     BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

unwarlike  purposes,  but  it  has  been  admirably 
adapted  and  really  makes  a  fine  little  Hospital. 

One  steps  from  the  Dock  into  the  large  ward 
where  are  the  beds,  nearly  always  full,  and 
at  one  end  there  is  a  well-equipped  ** dressing" 
table  and  dispensary.  The  doctor  or  the  sergeant 
dresses  all  wounds,  and  the  V.A.  members  keep 
the  place  spotlessly  clean,  do  all  the  clerical  work 
and  the  cooking.  They  never  know  from  one  mo- 
ment to  another  how  many  patients  they  may 
have  in  for  a  meal,  and  have  to  be  prepared  for 
a  rush  at  any  time.  Very  often  they  have  many 
more  than  six  sent  to  them  for  a  few  hours'  rest, 
and  they  put  them  on  emergency  beds  or  in  com- 
fortable chairs  round  a  fire. 

If  any  of  the  orderlies,  working  in  the  Docks, 
fall  sick,  they  are  sent  here  to  be  nursed,  and  as 
one  of  them  said  to  me,  **0h,  it's  all  right  there. 
I  had  a  jolly  fine  week  when  I  had  'flu." 

**0h,  yes,  the  noise  is  incessant  and  especially 
at  night,"  said  one  of  the  members,  smilingly, 
**for  all  the  Army  stores  are  moved  by  night,  but 
we  are  used  to  it  after  having  lived  in  it  for  two 
years!" 

A  very  big  task  which  is  undertaken  by  these 
ladies  is  the  keeping  of  a  Red  Cross  Depot,  from 
which  every  Hospital  ship  and  train  replenishes 
its  stores  of  *^ comforts"  whenever  it  puts  in  at 
Southampton. 

This  entails  an  enormous  amount  of  booking 


WOUNDED  AT  SOUTHAMPTON        39 

in  and  out,  but  probably  one  reason  why  gifts 
come  in  so  freely  is  that  every  parcel  is  acknowl- 
edged by  a  hand-written  note  of  thanks.  The 
Store  is  beautifully  kept  in  very  orderly  fashion 
and  one  of  the  Hospital  Ship's  Matrons  told  me 
that  she  was  **  never  refused  anything  she  asked 
for." 

This  is  a  fine  little  bit  of  V.A.D.  work  which  is 
scarcely  known  to  anyone  save  to  the  apprecia- 
tive Medical  Military  Dockyard  authorities,  who 
are  constantly  in  and  out  of  the  Detention  Hos- 
pital and  know  what  good  work  it  is  doing. 

It  is  easier  to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a  needle 
than  to  get  through  the  Dock  Gates  at  Southamp- 
ton; not  only  does  one  have  to  shew  one's  pre- 
cious pass  to  get  in,  but  also  to  get  out  again! 
But  I  was  specially  privileged,  and  I  will  en- 
deavour to  take  you  with  me  now  in  thought,  if 
not  in  person. 

Having  seen  the  Hospital  we  will  go  back  to 
the  berth  and  board  the  Hospital  train. 

Hospital  Train, 

Here  would  have  been  a  wonderful  subject  for 
Frith 's  brush — the  war  aspect  of  a  railway  sta- 
tion. Imagine  a  huge  platform,  dimly  lit ;  on  the 
one  side  there  lies  the  great  white  Hospital  ship, 
and  on  the  other  there  rests  the  Hospital  train, 
both  bearing  conspicuous  Red  Crosses  which 
should   protect   them   from   all   enemy  attacks. 


40     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Between,  there  are  dozens  of  swiftly  moving 
stretcher  parties,  but  there  is  no  hurry,  no  bustle. 
The  Surgeon-General  and  his  staff  keep  sharp 
eyes  on  every  detail,  and  an  orderly  did  not  seem 
in  the  least  surprised  when  the  General  walked 
into  the  little  shelter  to  inspect  the  making  of  the 
hot  drinks  that  were  being  served.  Nothing 
is  too  small,  too  insignificant  for  officers  of  high 
rank  to  attend  to,  in  order  that  our  wounded  men 
shall  have  every  possible  comfort.  The  men, 
themselves,  are  cheery  beyond  measure  because, 
at  last,  they  are  in  ** Blighty.''  The  stretcher- 
bearers  work  very  hard  and  for  long  hours,  and 
it  is  good  to  hear  that  they  are  relieved  on  Sun- 
days by  V.A.D.  men  who  are  at  work  in  the  town 
all  the  week. 

**It  is  awfully  good  of  them  to  give  up  their 
Sunday,"  said  a  regular  orderly  to  me,  '*for  I 
don't  know  what  we  should  do  without  the  rest. 
Of  course  when  there  is  a  rush  on  we  cannot  all 
get  away,  but  anyhow  these  Sunday  volunteers 
give  all  of  us  a  few  hours  off  in  turn." 

In  England  Hospital  trains  have  only  two  tiers 
of  beds,  whereas  in  France  they  have  three.  Al- 
together those  over  here  are  smaller,  carrying 
only  one  Medical  officer  and  two  Sisters,  instead 
of  three  Medical  officers  and  three  Sisters.  So 
far,  I  believe  no  women  V.A.D.  nurses  are  em- 
ployed on  Hospital  trains  in  England,  but  a  great 
number  are  now  carried  on  Hospital  ships. 


WOUNDED  AT  SOUTHAMPTON        41 

The  cruel  loss  of  The  Britannia  showed  the 
fine  discipline  of  the  entire  staff,  including  a  large 
number  of  men  and  women  VA.D.  members. 

The  Hospital  trains  in  England  have  usually 
been  adapted  from  ordinary  rolling-stock,  but 
they  have  special  connecting  corridors  between 
each  carriage  so  that  there  is  no  jar  on  starting 
or  stopping.  On  the  train  there  is  an  operating 
theatre,  where  emergency  operations  can  be  per- 
formed if  necessary,  and  where  all  the  dressings 
of  ** walking"  cases  are  done. 

The  cots  in  the  train  are  extremely  comfortable 
and  well  sprung.  In  many  cases  milk  wagons  have 
been  utilised  and  serve  excellently  to  accommo- 
date ten  stretchers,  which  are  put  on  trestles  and 
are  made  up  with  mattresses.  If  movement  is 
likely  to  injure  a  man  his  stretcher  can  be  put 
straight  on  to  one  of  these  trestles.  The  wagons 
are  painted  white  and  look  very  bright  and  com- 
fortable, and  as  all  carriages  communicate  with 
one  another,  the  staff  can  get  through  to  see  all 
the  patients  throughout  the  journey.  Hot  meals 
are  served  to  the  men,  all  the  food  being  cooked 
on  the  train  in  the  cleverly  contrived  kitchen 
wagon,  and  of  course  all  necessary  dressings  are 
done. 

Before  we  actually  commence  our  journey 
northwards  I  want  to  give  you  a  glimpse  of  a  Hos- 
pital, not  far  from  Southampton,  which  is  espe- 
cially unique. 


42    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Clearing  Hospital  in  England. 

In  order  that  men  with  comparatively  small 
wounds  (* 'walking  cases''  as  they  are  known) 
should  not  take  up  valuable  space  in  Ambulance 
trains,  a  very  large  number  of  them  are  sent  to 
the  Clearing  Hospital  near  to  Southampton  where 
they  are  kept  for  a  few  days  and  then  sent  in 
special  carriages  by  ordinary  trains  to  Hospitals 
near  to  their  homes. 

Lt.-Colonel  Twiss,  E.A.M.C.,  has  for  many 
years  been  keenly  interested  in  St.  John  Am- 
bulance work,  so  that  when  he  was  asked  to 
organise  this  Hospital  he  got  as  his  staff  St.  John 
Ambulance  Brigade  Orderlies.  These  men,  to  a 
certain  extent,  are  members  of  V.A.  Detachments, 
but  they  were  all  voluntary  workers,  so  that  if  we 
take  the  spirit  rather  than  the  letter  of  the  law, 
their  work  may  well  be  recorded  here,  after  they 
had  become  E.A.M.C. 

The  Council  schools  were  commandeered,  but 
they  would  not  accommodate  the  thousand-odd  beds 
Colonel  Twiss  was  to  have  under  his  care,  so  that 
Armstrong  huts  were  set  up  in  the  adjoining 
Park,  and  with  the  use  of  various  church  halls 
the  Hospital  is  very  complete.  The  constant  com- 
ing and  going  of  large  convoys  makes  the  work 
exceptionally  heavy.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing 
for  some  hundreds  of  patients  to  be  in  and  out 
again  in  three  days.    This  means  a  big  test  of 


WOUNDED  AT  SOUTHAMPTON        43 

organisation  and  of  the  orderlies'  work,  but  the 
officers  have  nothing  but  praise  for  their  staff. 
As  need  for  skilled  orderlies  abroad  increases,  a 
great  many  St.  John  men  are  taken  from  all  the 
home  hospitals,  and  Colonel  Twiss  has  had  to  fill 
their  places  with  recruits,  but  many  of  these  are 
V.A.D.  men  and  are  doing  admirable  work.  No 
Sisters  are  employed  in  this  Hospital. 

Southampton  Hospitals, 

In  and  around  Southampton  there  are  several 
excellently  managed  V.A.D.  Hospitals,  but  as  this 
same  remark  could  be  made  about  practically 
every  part  of  the  United  Kingdom,  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  mention  them  in  particular;  but  a  bit  of 
V.A.D.  work  which  should  not  be  missed  is 
that  which  was  done  by  St.  John  members  in  the 
very  early  weeks  of  August,  1914,  and  continued 
for  over  a  year. 

It  was  discovered  by  an  enthusiastic  Ambulance 
worker  that  the  thousands  of  troops  who  were 
being  brought  to  Southampton  and  stationed  on 
the  Common  in  tents  for  one  night  before  their 
departure  to  France  were  very  badly  wanting  a 
Canteen  where  they  could  obtain  a  hot  drink  and 
some  food,  free. 

A  large  tent  was  obtained  with  considerable 
difficulty  and  equipped  as  a  Canteen.  This  was 
kept  open  day  and  night  by  shifts  of  V.A.D. 
workers,  men   and  women,   and  they  rendered 


44    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

signal  service  to  the  weary  troops  who  were  about 
to  set  forth  to  the  Front.  The  officers  were  al- 
most as  badly  in  need  of  help  as  the  men,  and 
after  a  very  few  days  a  smaller  tent  was  arranged 
as  an  Officers'  Mess-room. 

This  is  only  one  of  the  sidelights,  as  it  were, 
on  V.A.D.  work.  It  was  not  their  legitimate  work 
as  it  was  not  for  wounded  men,  and  in  a  sense 
it  was  done  unofficially,  and  of  course  no  St.  John 
funds  were  used  for  it ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  filled  in  a  gap  at  a  moment  when  it  was  quite 
impossible  for  the  Army  to  cope  with  all  the 
smaller  details  of  making  arrangements  for  the 
comfort  of  the  men. 


CHAPTER  VI 
V.A.D.  WoEK  IN  AND  Abound  Biemingham 

SO  far  I  have  had  but  little  occasion  to  speak 
of  women  in  V.A.D.  work,  for,  naturally,  it 
falls  to  the  share  of  the  men  members  to  manage 
the  transport  of  our  wounded  men. 

Since,  as  privileged  travellers,  we  stepped  upon 
the  Ambulance  train  at  Southampton  Docks,  we 
have  been  running  swiftly  and  smoothly  north- 
wards, and  now,  as  the  train  draws  into  the  great 
station  at  Snow  Hill,  Birmingham,  we  see  a 
unique  and  very  attractive  sight. 

Birmingham  Rest  Station, 

The  fame  of  the  Birmingham  Rest  Station  has 
spread  far  and  wide.  Even  in  France  I  heard  it 
spoken  of  in  tender  accents,  and  though  there  are 
others  in  England,  it  is  so  particularly  well  man- 
aged, with  such  strict  discipline,  that  I  hope  every- 
one will  agree  that  I  do  well  in  describing  it  in 
order  to  show  what  Rest  Station  work  means. 

The  patients  on  all  Ambulance  trains  are  well 
fed,  but  an  extra  meal  seldom  comes  amiss  to 
Tommy,  especially  when  unusual  fare  is  served 
to  them  under  somewhat  unusual  circumstances. 

Looking  from  the  carriage  window,  the  patients 

45 


46    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

in  the  train  see,  on  the  platform,  two  files  of  nurs- 
ing members  standing  in  front  of  big  lorries  upon 
which  are  set  tea-urns,  mugs,  sandwiches,  cakes 
and  fruit.  There  is  a  shrill  whistle  and  order- 
lies appear  at  once  in  each  ward  of  the  train,  bear- 
ing trays  filled  with  mugs  of  tea,  whilst  behind 
them  come  nurses  with  food  and  fruit.  A  little 
later,  cigarettes,  pipes,  tobacco  and  postcards  are 
brought  round. 

'*It  is  extraordinary,  the  difference  that  is 
noticeable  in  the  men  after  we  have  been  to  Bir- 
mingham,'' said  an  Army  Sister  to  me.  **  There 
is  quite  a  change  in  them,  for  the  kindly  thought 
and  the  bright  words  of  greeting  cheer  them  in- 
finitely, and  make  them  realise  what  it  means  to 
be  'home'  again." 

Every  train  has  been  met  since  the  first  one 
came  at  very  short  notice  in  the  early  days  of 
the  war.  The  members  of  a  Birmingham  V.A.D. 
rushed  down  to  the  station  and  had  food  ready 
for  that  train,  and  without  a  lapse  the  work  has 
gone  on  ever  since.  A  room  on  the  station  has 
been  given  up,  very  courteously,  by  the  railway 
authorities,  and  a  huge  amount  of  work  is  got 
through  there  by  V.A.  members  under  their 
Corps  Commandant,  Mrs.  Porter.  The  cost  falls 
entirely  upon  Birmingham,  and  so  well  do  the 
townspeople  appreciate  this  fine  work  that  there 
is  never  any  difficulty  in  gathering  in  funds  for 
the  Eest  Station. 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  BIEMINGHAM        47 

Directly  the  train  is  signalled  the  platform  is 
cleared  of  all  outsiders,  and  the  doors  of  the  im- 
provised kitchen  are  thrown  open  to  allow  of  the 
exit  of  two  files  of  nurses,  spick-and-span  in  their 
grey  cotton  frocks,  white  aprons,  and  black  bon- 
nets. One  file  turns  to  the  right  and  the  other  to 
the  left,  and  march  to  where  stand  the  two  trol- 
leys laden  with  food.  Nothing  is  forgotten. 
There  are  even  postcards  and  pencils  so  that  the 
men  can  write  messages  to  their  friends,  and  the 
cards  are  collected  and  stamped  by  the  nursing 
members.  Slowly  the  train  draws  into  the  sta- 
tion, bearing  on  its  sides  the  great  red  crosses 
which  should  claim  exemption  from  molestation 
all  over  the  world. 

The  time  for  which  each  train  is  allowed  to 
halt  in  the  station  flies  by  all  too  quickly,  but  the 
men  have  managed  to  make  an  astonishingly  good 
meal,  and  at  the  word  of  command  cups  are  col- 
lected and  the  members  and  orderlies  again  take 
their  places  by  the  now  empty  trolleys,  and  with 
many  a  last  word  the  train  steams  away  with 
its  load  of  broken  humanity;  broken  only  in  a 
physical  sense  for  the  men's  spirits  are  higher 
than  ever,  their  courage  more  indomitable,  their 
cheeriness  so  inspiring  that  the  ordinary  sufferer 
is  put  to  shame. 

It  all  sounds  very  simple,  this  feeding  of 
wounded  men  on  trains,  but  it  needs  fine  organi- 
sation, a  great  deal  of  hard  work,  and  a  consider- 


48    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

able  amount  of  money.  Some  days  the  trains 
come  in  thick  and  fast,  the  biggest  day  being  that 
on  which  700  wounded  men  passed  through  Snow 
Hill  station.  But  never  yet  has  an  Ambulance 
train  come  into  Birmingham  without  these  two 
lines  of  St.  John  V.A.D.  members  being  there  to 
greet  the  men. 

The  Hospital  train  is  going  on  to  Manchester 
and  the  North,  but  we  will  step  off  at  Birming- 
ham with  the  comfortable  knowledge  that  a  lit- 
tle later  on  we  will  board  another  of  the  trains 
and  pay  surprise  visits  to  several  of  the  great 
Northern  cities. 

Birmingham  is  a  great  centre  for  V.A.D.  work, 
and  we  will  take  it  as  typical  of  St.  John  work, 
whilst  Manchester  will  be  typical  of  British  Red 
Cross  work.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  both  the 
cities  workers  of  the  two  societies  are  to  be 
found,  but  it  is  curious  that  the  majority  of  the 
one  or  the  other  generally  predominates  in  every 
centre.  After  all,  it  is  merely  a  '*  distinction 
without  a  difference,"  and  as  a  great  Red  Cross 
authority  says  humourously  when  he  is  interview- 
ing V.A.D.  candidates,  **  Do  you  want  to  wear  a 
blue  frock  or  a  grey  one?"  It  is  a  fine  thing  that 
the  differences  of  past  years  should  have  con- 
verged so  that  they  have  practically  arrived  at 
vanishing  point,  and  can  be  summed  up  in  the 
utterly  unimportant  question  of  the  colour  of  the 
dress  one  wears! 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  BIRMINGHAM        49 

V.A.  workers  have  no  time  for  petty  quarrels. 
They  are  doing  the  nation's  work;  and  they  raise 
their  heads,  fixing  their  eyes  upon  an  aim  which 
is  lofty  enough  to  be  Christlike,  and  must  not  be 
sullied  by  any  sordid  considerations. 

During  that  first  week  in  August,  1914,  a  huge 
number  of  men  who  had  qualified  in  First  Aid 
and  Nursing  were  called  away  from  Birmingham 
to  serve  with  H.M.  Forces;  but  courses  of  lec- 
tures were  set  going  then  and  have  gone  on  ever 
since,  so  that  recruits  have  been  brought  in  to  fill 
the  places  of  those  who  have  gone  away. 

Nursing  Detachments  were  already  very  strong 
in  Birmingham,  and  a  great  many  of  the  mem- 
bers having  had  experience  in  the  Homoeopathic 
Hospital,  they  were  quite  qualified  to  act  as  pro- 
bationers under  trained  nurses  in  Auxiliary  Hos- 
pitals. 

Several  buildings  had  been  promised  for  use 
as  V.A.D.  Hospitals  **in  case  of  invasion,''  but 
as  there  was  no  invasion  the  contracts  all  fell 
through,  and  new  efforts  had  to  be  made  for  the 
obtaining  of  houses  which  could  be  turned  into 
Hospitals.  But  before  any  one  of  these  was  ac- 
tually started,  the  nursing  members  were  made 
use  of  for  emergency  services  of  all  kinds.  Bir- 
mingham, if  not  invaded  by  the  enemy,  was  cer- 
tainly invaded  by  Belgian  refugees,  and  a  great 
deal  of  voluntary  work  for  them  was  carried  out 
by  the  V.A.D.  members. 


50    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

The  first  V.A.D.  Hospital  to  be  started  in  Bir- 
mingham was  staffed  by  a  St.  John  Detachment, 
the  house  being  Hill  Crest,  Richmond  Hill. 
Thirty  beds  were  put  in  the  house,  and  later  on 
thirteen  open-air  shelters  were  put  up  to  increase 
the  number  to  fifty.  Many  wounded  Belgians 
were  received  here  in  the  autumn  of  1914.  The 
equipment  and  maintenance  of  this  Hospital,  as 
indeed  of  all  the  Hospitals  in  the  Birmingham  dis- 
trict, have  been  entirely  given  by  friends  in  the 
neighbourhood. 

Later  on,  this  Hospital  was  moved  to  Harborne 
Hall,  a  very  beautiful  house  which  is  particularly 
well  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  a  Hospital.  An 
outstanding  feature  of  this  Hospital  is  that  a 
laundry  is  provided  in  which  the  whole  of  the 
washing  is  done  for  the  entire  establishment. 
Many  V.A.D.  members  work  here  daily,  and  by 
their  labours  effect  a  very  large  saving  in  ex- 
pense and  much  additional  comfort  to  the 
patients. 

During  the  great  July  push  the  matron  of  this 
Hospital  was  rung  up  and  asked  if  she  could  sud- 
denly accommodate  twenty-five  men  who  were 
coming  on  a  Hospital  train.  Every  bed  in  the 
house  was  full,  but  she  was  determined  not  to 
refuse  to  take  in  these  men.  She  and  her  staff 
quickly  arranged  spare  mattresses  on  the  two 
large  billiard  tables  and  on  various  sofas  in  the 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  BIRMINGHAM        51 

day-room,  and  on  to  these  they  put  their  con- 
valescent patients,  so  that  within  an  incredibly 
short  time  they  were  ready  to  receive  the  wounded 
men  who  had  come  direct  from  the  Front.  This 
was  a  piece  of  quick  work  which  showed  resource 
and  adaptability,  and  is  a  typical  case  of  what 
has  been  done  over  and  over  again  in  V.A.D. 
Hospitals. 

Following  quickly  on  the  heels  of  this  first  Hos- 
pital there  were  opened  five  others,  all  of  them 
being  excellently  equipped  and  managed.  Per- 
haps a  special  word  may  be  given  to  the  High- 
bury Hospital  as  it  has  a  particular  interest, 
since  it  was  for  many  years  the  residence  of  the 
late  Right  Hon.  Joseph  Chamberlain,  and  was  put 
at  the  disposal  of  the  War  Office  by  the  Right 
Hon.  Austen  Chamberlain.  The  equipment  of  the 
house  and  the  provision  of  funds  for  its  mainte- 
nance were  most  generously  undertaken  by  the 
employes  of  a  huge  munition  factory  in  Bir- 
mingham. 

It  is  famous  for  its  Neurological  Department 
with  its  up-to-date  electrical  appliances  and  staff 
of  fully  qualified  nurses.  It  has  accommodation 
for  one  hundred  and  ninety  beds,  some  thirty  of 
these  being  in  a  very  beautiful  open-air  pavilion 
which  has  been  built  in  the  grounds.  Here 
again  the  laundry  work  has  been  carried  out  by 
V.A.D.  members,  the  sum  of  £4  being  saved 
weekly. 


52     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Handicrafts  for  Patients. 

In  several  of  tlie  Birmingham  Hospitals,  as 
indeed  in  the  Auxiliary  Hospitals  all  over  the 
country,  a  special  effort  has  been  made  to  teach 
the  men  handicrafts,  not  only  with  the  view  of 
giving  them  employment  and  amusement,  but  pos- 
sibly of  helping  them  to  earn  money  later  on  by 
their  acquired  skill. 

There  was  quite  a  rage  in  Highbury  Hospitals 
for  the  making  of  plaster  casts,  the  men  copying 
the  Army  badges  with  great  faithfulness.  Then 
there  were  sketching  classes,  shorthand  and  type- 
writing classes,  knitting,  crocheting  and  wool- 
work classes,  wool  mat-making,  cross-stitch  belt 
making,  and  basket-making  classes,  and  a  good 
many  of  the  men  were  tremendously  interested  in 
attending  French  classes. 

At  Ashfield  Hospital,  Gt.  Malvern,  which  comes 
under  the  Birmingham  administration,  they  have 
made  a  feature  of  teaching  carpentry  to  the  con- 
valescent patients.  They  have  set  up  an  excellent 
bench  in  an  outhouse  in  a  loft,  and  a  carpenter 
V.A.D.  member  has  generously  undertaken  to 
give  the  men  lessons.  They  are  taught  to  make 
the  most  fascinating  wooden  toys  in  the  fashion 
of  those  which  used  to  come  to  us  in  thousands 
from  Germany.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  many  of 
the  men  who  are  incapable  of  returning  to  their 
own  trades  will  find  a  means  of  livelihood  in 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  BIRMINGHAM        53 

carrying  on  the  various  handicrafts  which  they 
have  begun  to  learn  in  our  Auxiliary  Hospitals. 
At  Lordswood  Hospital  many  of  the  men  work 
in  the  kitchen  garden  as  soon  as  they  are  con- 
valescent, and  it  is  not  only  a  healthy  employ- 
ment, but  gives  them  a  valuable  insight  into  out- 
door work. 

A  New  Departure  in  V.A.D.  Work. 

It  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  St.  John  V.A.D.  mem- 
bers in  Birmingham  to  be  amongst  the  first,  if 
not  actually  the  very  first,  people  to  make  a  new 
departure  in  their  nursing  labours.  For  a  long 
time  the  District  Nursing  Societies  of  many  great 
cities  have  been  in  distress  by  reason  of  the 
shortage  of  trained  nurses.  A  very  large  num- 
ber of  district  nurses  are  at  work  abroad  or  hold 
onerous  positions  in  Military  Hospitals  at  home. 
This  has  meant  that  the  poor  in  all  parts  of  the 
Kingdom  have  had  to  go  ** short"  in  the  matter 
of  district  nursing.  It  is  a  thing  of  national  im- 
portance that  women  and  babies  should  be  well 
looked  after  at  this  crisis,  for  we  must  think  for- 
ward, and  remember  that  the  infants  of  to-day 
mean  our  fighting  forces  of  the  future. 

The  Superintendent  of  the  District  Nursing 
Society  in  Birmingham  decided  to  apply  to  the 
St.  John  authorities  for  help,  with  the  result  that 
some  eighteen  to  twenty  V.A.D.  members  regu- 
larly work  as  district  nurses  amongst  the  poor 


54     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

of  Birmingham.  Each  one  goes  on  a  month's 
probation  and  works  with  the  trained  Sister. 
Then  if  she  shows  proficiency  she  is  allowed  to 
go  to  cases  by  herself  and  to  do  a  regular  daily 
round;  but  she  is  never  allowed  to  go  to  a  new 
case,  these  always  being  undertaken  by  a  trained 
Sister.  The  result  has  been  most  successful,  and 
it  has  been  arranged  that  the  District  Nursing 
Society  should  grant  certificates  for  three  and  six 
months'  good  continuous  work  to  V.A.D.  mem- 
bers. 

May  we  quote  the  words  of  the  Vice-President 
of  the  Nursing  Society  who  said:  ^*For  forty-two 
years  this  Society  has  maintained  the  principle 
that  only  nurses  with  the  highest  professional 
training  are  qualified  to  undertake  the  district 
nursing  among  the  poor.  The  exigencies  of  war 
have  broken  down  the  continuity  of  this  princi- 
ple, and  your  Committee  has  gratefully  accepted 
the  assistance  of  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Bri- 
gade who  have  done  sterling  work  in  the  absence 
of  their  professional  sisters." 

It  is  quite  likely  that  before  these  words  are 
in  print  the  example  will  have  been  copied  in 
many  great  cities,  thus  giving  the  V.A.D.  mem- 
bers a  new  chance  of  proving  their  usefulness  in 
coming  to  the  aid  of  the  nation,  and  doing  war 
work  which  is  very  humble  and  very  lowly  in 
itself,  but  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 
Empire. 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  BIKMINGHAM        55 

Quick  Worh. 

To  be  efficient,  V.A.D.  members  must  be  quick 
and  ready  to  grapple  with  any  emergency  that 
comes  along.  It  is  interesting  to  hear  a  few  of 
the  queer  cases  in  which  members  have  been 
called  upon  to  give  their  help. 

For  instance,  there  was  a  shortage  of  helpers 
at  **Our  Day"  collection  in  Birmingham,  and  on 
the  day  previous  to  the  collection  eighty  girls 
were  got  together  and  told  the  street  stations 
which  they  were  to  take  up  on  the  following 
day. 

Highbury  Hospital  was  to  have  been  opened  on 
a  certain  Monday,  but  the  July  push  came,  and 
on  the  previous  Saturday  they  were  suddenly 
rung  up  and  asked  to  take  in  forty  men.  This 
they  did,  although  at  the  moment  the  telephone 
rang  there  were  not  forty  beds  in  position, 
even! 

With  regard  to  the  Hospital  trains  which  come 
through  Birmingham,  the  sudden  calls  are  so 
frequent  that  they  are  not  looked  upon  as  peculiar 
but  as  being  in  the  natural  course  of  affairs.  The 
V.A.D.  member  who  acts  as  secretary  for  that 
particular  work  thinks  nothing  of  going  to  bed 
with  the  telephone  lying  on  the  pillow  so  that 
there  will  be  no  chance  of  her  not  hearing  the 
bell. 

During  the  rush  of  Belgian  refugees  the  Matron 


56     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

of  the  Dudley  Road  Infirmary,  where  they  were 
being  accommodated,  suddenly  rang  up  and  asked 
if  she  could  have  eight  V.A.D.  members  within 
one  hour.  They  were  supplied,  and  since  then 
there  have  been  various  calls  of  this  kind  from 
the  Matron,  who  knows  that  she  can  be  certain, 
not  only  of  getting  the  members,  but  that  they 
will  implicitly  obey  her  orders  and  will  work  with- 
out question  on  any  job  to  which  she  cares  to  put 
them.  She  has  paid  them  the  high  tribute  of  say- 
ing that  they  are  both  obedient  and  reliable. 

Motor  Transport  V,A,D, 

For  a  very  long  while  after  the  war  broke  out 
men  and  women  who  were  motor  drivers  gave 
their  services,  and  in  some  eases  loaned  their 
cars,  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  wounded  men 
from  the  Hospital  trains  to  the  Hospitals.  Later 
on  it  was  thought  well  that  there  should  be  Motor 
Transport  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments,  and  they 
are  now  at  work  in  many  centres  all  over  the 
Kingdom. 

I  had  the  great  privilege  of  going  out  on  a  night 
convoy  at  Birmingham.  The  car  I  went  on  was 
driven  by  a  girl,  and  it  was  quite  wonderful  to 
see  how  she  made  her  way  through  the  pitch-dark 
streets  and  took  her  place  in  the  yard  of  the  im- 
provised station  where  the  Hospital  trains  came 
to  a  halt. 

The  scene  was  a  bizarre  one,  and  took  me  back 


;3 


2    CD 


(-1 


CD 
;^ 
a, 

u 

a 
O 

ess 

;-• 
o 

"o 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  BIRMINGHAM        57 

to  France,  because  the  continuous  rain  had  made 
the  roads  very  muddy,  (France  and  mud  will  al- 
ways be  connected  in  my  mind,)  and  the  platform 
which  had  been  put  up  at  this  siding  was  an 
extremely  rough  one.  Dozens  of  ambulances 
and  motor  cars  were  ranged  up  in  the  yard, 
whilst  on  the  platform  there  awaited  several 
squads  of  V.A.D.  men  with  stretchers  and 
blankets  ready  for  the  transfer  of  the  wounded 
men. 

The  moment  the  Hospital  train  arrived  the 
M.O.  of  the  train  jumped  out  and  spoke  to  the 
Superintendent  in  charge  of  the  V.A.  stretcher- 
bearers.  He  was  informed  that  there  were  a  hun- 
dred and  eighty  cases  on  the  train,  a  hundred  of 
them  being  **cot  cases,''  which  meant  that  they 
must  be  removed  by  a  stretcher.  At  a  word  of 
command  the  V.A.D.  men  sprang  to  attention  and 
forthwith  set  to  work.  They  carried  their 
stretchers  into  the  train,  they  moved  the  patients 
with  the  utmost  gentleness,  they  carried  them 
down  the  slope  and  put  them  into  the  ambulances, 
and  at  the  end  of  fifty-three  minutes  the  whole 
of  those  hundred  and  eighty  cases  had  been  sent 
off  to  Hospital. 

The  motor  cars  make  several  journeys  during 
each  convoy,  going  to  the  various  Hospitals  to 
which  the  patients  are  designated.  Everything 
works  smoothly ;  there  is  no  sort  of  confusion,  and 
I,  as  a  privileged  person  on  the  front  seat  of  one 


58     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

of  the  ambulances  (driven  this  time  by  a  man 
V.A.D.  member),  could  not  help  marvelling  at 
the  organisation  which  made  things  work  so 
well. 

Practically  every  one  of  the  V.A.D.  men  and 
women  who  run  these  motor  convoys  are  at  work 
in  the  day,  the  men  for  the  most  part  being  in 
business  in  the  city. 

**But  where  does  your  sleep  come  inT'  said  I 
to  one  of  them.  **How  much  did  you  get  to- 
night r' 

Personally  I  had  had  a  few  hours  in  bed  as  I 
had  not  been  called  out  until  3  a.m._,  but  the  man 
I  spoke  to  replied  cheerily : 

**0h,  I  got  the  telephone  message  so  late  that 
it  was  not  worth  while  going  to  bed,  so  I  sat  down 
in  a  comfortable  chair  over  the  fire,  and  my  wife 
gave  me  and  several  other  members  of  the  con- 
voy a  good  meal  at  2  a.m.  Then  we  had  to  start 
for  the  station.  I  shall  get  back  in  time  to  have 
a  bath  and  eight  o'clock  breakfast,  and  then  I 
shall  be  off  for  business." 

*^But  you  cannot  do  that  sort  of  thing  often," 
I  remonstrated. 

^*0h,  yes,"  he  answered;  *' three  or  four  nights 
a  week.  It  is  wonderful  how  we  have  learned  to 
do  without  sleep  since  the  war  began,  and  I  really 
doubt  if  we  are  any  the  worse  for  it." 

There  was  nothing  heroic  about  his  tone,  and 
he  evidently  felt  that  he  was  doing  the  most  ordi- 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  BIRMINGHAM        59 

nary  work  possible.  This  is  quite  a  good  exam- 
ple of  what  is  being  done  quietly  and  without  any 
ostentation  by  the  members  of  the  Voluntary  Aid 
Movement  throughout  the  Elngdom. 


CHAPTER  VII 
V.A.D.  Work  in  Manchester  and  District 

IT  is  not  much  of  a  run  in  a  Hospital  train  from 
Birmingham  to  Manchester,  and  again  we  will 
step  off  at  the  great  station  and  make  a  flying 
visit  to  the  wonderful  V.A.D.  Hospitals  which  lie 
all  round  the  city. 

Lancashire  is  always  enthusiastic  in  whatever 
work  it  takes  up,  and  has  shown  itself  to  be 
splendidly  loyal  not  only  in  giving  thousands  of 
men  as  combatants  to  the  Forces,  but  in  giving 
itself  unreservedly  to  V.A.D.  work. 

Never  shall  I  forget  going  to  a  Hospital  in  one 
of  the  manufacturing  towns  of  Lancashire  where 
the  entire  work  was  undertaken  by  mill  girls.  It 
was  a  small  Hospital,  and  the  skilled  nursing 
could  be  done  by  the  one  trained  Sister  who  was 
in  charge.  Under  her  she  had  a  very  large  staff 
of  girls  and  women  who  mostly  had  to  earn  their 
daily  bread  by  working  in  factories  from  early 
morning  until  evening. 

These  women  live  hard  lives  at  all  times,  but 
they  ungrudgingly  give  hours  from  their  nights 
in  order  to  get  up  at  five  in  the  morning  and  go 
to  the  Hospital  to  scrub  and  to  clean  until  they 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  MANCHESTER       61 

are  due  at  the  factory.  Again  at  the  other  end 
of  the  day,  after  they  have  done  long  hours  at 
monotonous  and  often  arduous  work,  they  go  into 
the  Hospital  on  their  way  home  and  give  another 
couple  of  hours  to  the  serving  of  the  evening 
meal,  the  making  of  beds,  and  the  general  tidy- 
ing up  of  the  wards.  The  work  during  the  day 
is  divided  amongst  the  women  who  have  homes 
and  children  to  tend  and  can  only  spare  an  hour 
or  two  away  from  them. 

All  these  women  do  not  give  of  their  surplus; 
they  give  something  which  costs  them  a  great 
deal.  They  give  it  willingly,  smilingly,  and  as 
though  theirs  is  the  privilege,  which  indeed  it  is. 
I  wish  I  could  take  a  few  rich,  leisured  women, 
who  still  have  not  answered  their  country's  call, 
and  show  them  this  beautiful  little  Hospital,  ad- 
mirably run,  clean  and  tidy  as  a  new  pin,  which 
is  entirely  the  outcome  of  the  loving  labour  of 
women  who  have  to  work  very  hard  indeed,  in 
order  to  keep  themselves  in  the  bare  necessities 
of  life. 

East  Lancashire, 

In  East  Lancashire  alone  there  are  sixty-one 
Hospitals  under  the  British  Eed  Cross  Society 
or  the  Order  of  St.  John,  the  total  number  of  beds 
being  4,227.  A  very  large  majority  of  these 
Hospitals  are  worked  by  British  Red  Cross  V.A.D. 
members ;  the  East  Lancashire  branch  of  the  So- 


62     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

ciety  having  been  formed  as  long  ago  as  1910,  with 
the  primary  object  of  organising  and  training  the 
civilian  population  during  times  of  peace  so  as 
to  enable  them  to  assist  the  Military  authorities 
in  time  of  war. 

There  was  a  total  membership  of  3,000  men 
and  1,000  women  registered  at  the  War  Office 
in  V.A.  Detachments,  and  on  the  outbreak  of 
war  all  these  Detachments  were  ready  for  work. 
Forty  Comforts  Sections  were  instituted  with 
a  leader  in  charge  of  each,  who  in  turn  organ- 
ised sewing  parties  in  his  or  her  particular 
district. 

The  first  Hospital  up  here  to  receive  War 
Office  sanction  was  Worsley  Hall,  but  the  first  to 
open  and  actually  receive  patients  was  The  Wood- 
lands, Wigan,  (opened  on  October  6th,)  which 
was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Branch  by  the 
Earl  and  Countess  of  Crawford,  who  generously 
provide  all  cost  of  the  maintenance  of  the  Hos- 
pital, which  receives  no  Government  grant.  This 
Hospital  with  a  hundred  and  thirty  beds  has  been 
maintained  by  the  Branch  without  any  cost  to  the 
Government  as  the  gift  of  the  East  Lancashire 
Branch  of  the  British  Bed  Cross  Society  to  the 
nation. 

Here  again  fine  transport  work  has  been  done. 
Owners  of  motor  cars  were  approached  and  a 
splendid  fleet  of  ambulances  and  cars  was  soon 
available. 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  MANCHESTER       63 

An  Amusing  Story. 

A  very  funny  story  was  told  to  me  by  a  great 
Eed  Cross  worker  in  Manchester.  He  said  that 
people  wondered  why  things  did  not  always  go 
like  clockwork;  and  he  thought  that  the  answer 
given  on  the  telephone  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war  by  one  of  the  Section  Leaders  to  a  car 
owner,  who  asked  for  two  days '  notice  to  be  given 
when  the  car  was  required,  really  put  the  case  in 
a  nutshell.  The  Section  Leader,  with  a  fine  sense 
of  humour,  replied  to  this  request,  *^If  you  will 
please  arrange  with  the  Kaiser  to  give  us  two 
days'  notice  of  his  soldiers'  intention  to  attack 
ours,  I  shall  be  very  pleased  to  give  you  the  two 
days'  notice  you  require." 

But  it  is  the  exception  and  not  the  rule  to  find 
people  unreasonable  once  they  have  put  their 
hand  to  V.A.D.  work.  There  is  something  very 
infectious  about  it  which  makes  men  and  women 
quickly  realise  that  they  must  be  prompt,  that 
they  must  put  their  private  feelings  on  one  side, 
and  above  all  that  they  must  not  be  quarrelsome. 

Ambulance  Work  in  Mumition  Factories, 

A  certain  number  of  V.A.D.  members  in  Man- 
chester are  regularly  on  duty  at  munition  fac- 
tories. This  is  only  typical  of  what  is  going  on 
all  over  the  country. 

I  had  the  unusual  privilege  of  going  through 


64    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

one  of  the  great  munition  factories  and  seeing 
for  myself  exactly  how  the  Ambulance  Depart- 
ment was  managed.  They  had  set  aside  a  small 
building  for  the  work,  and  everybody  in  the  fac- 
tory knew  where  it  was,  and  that  Ambulance  men 
and  women  were  on  duty  there  night  and  day. 
Thus  they  get  small  cases  to  attend  to  through- 
out the  twenty-four  hours,  because  in  practically 
all  munition  works  the  furnaces  are  never  allowed 
to  go  out,  and  there  are  different  shifts  of  work- 
ers, so  that  the  making  of  munitions  never  ceases 
for  one  moment,  day  or  night. 

In  the  Ambulance  rooms  there  are  beds  and  all 
the  equipment  necessary  to  deal  with  accidents. 
Of  course  they  must  always  be  prepared  for  a 
possible  explosion,  although  happily  these  very 
rarely  occur.  Then  there  are  men  and  women 
who  are  working  regularly  with  explosives,  whilst 
others  are  dealing  with  boiling  vitriol  and  molten 
metal.  All  these  are  distinctly  dangerous  jobs, 
and  when  familiarity  has  bred  contempt  acci- 
dents may  occur. 

V.A.D.  members  who  are  very  well  qualified 
and  have  had  a  lot  of  experience  work  in  shifts  in 
these  Ambulance  rooms.  There  is  a  stretcher 
party  of  men  who  are  sent  for  in  the  case  of 
accident,  and  who  quickly  convey  the  injured  per- 
son to  the  accident  room  after  First  Aid  has  been 
rendered  on  the  spot.  A  stretcher  and  necessary 
dressings  are  kept  at  hand  in  all  the  big  ** shops," 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  MANCHESTER       65 

and  there  are  always  people  amongst  the  workers 
who  are  qualified  in  First  Aid  and  can  give  assist- 
ance instantly  an  accident  occurs. 

In  one  of  the  munition  factories  where  two 
V.A.D.  nurses  are  always  in  attendance,  the  night 
and  day  work  being  managed  in  three  shifts,  one 
thousand  small  accidents  were  attended  to  dur- 
ing the  first  seven  weeks  after  the  Ambulance 
room  was  opened. 

Joint  Hospitals. 

Several  of  the  Hospitals  in  the  Manchester  dis- 
trict are  staffed  by  St.  John  and  British  Eed 
Cross  Society  members,  and  it  is  delightful  to 
know  that  there  is  no  friction  between  them.  All 
sorts  of  novel  ideas  have  been  thought  of  for  the 
raising  of  funds,  because  each  of  these  Hospitals 
prides  itself  on  the  fact  that  it  is  self-supporting. 

Novel  Entertainment, 

The  Moss  Bridge  Red  Cross  and  St.  John  Hos- 
pital raised  £89  to  pay  the  remaining  debt  off  the 
new  wing  by  very  novel  methods.  A  garden- 
party  was  held  in  the  grounds,  the  most  attrac- 
tive feature  of  it  being  a  trench  **  somewhere  in 
France,"  made  and  manned  by  wounded  soldiers 
from  the  Hospital.  On  the  right  of  the  trench 
was  a  dugout,  and  hundreds  of  visitors  traversed 
the  anything  but  easy  road  which  led  to  this 
realistic    scene.     There    were   two    sections    of 


66    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

trenches,  loop-holed  and  protected  by  barbed 
wire.  Visitors  were  shown  the  working  of  a 
periscope  from  the  trenches,  and  the  gas- 
protector  helmets  were  clearly  explained  by  a 
corporal. 

Within  a  month  another  garden-party  was  held, 
and  on  this  occasion,  in  addition  to  again  giving 
a  most  vivid  representation  of  trenches,  there 
was  an  interesting  innovation.  This  was  a  camp- 
life  scene,  and  the  soldiers  sold  tea  made  in  dixies 
over  regular  camp  fires. 

The  two  garden-parties  realised  the  sum  of 
£370,  out  of  which  an  X-ray  apparatus  has  been 
purchased  for  the  Hospital.  This  speaks  for  the 
ingenuity  of  V.A.D.  members. 

Ambulance  Drill  Halls  as  Hospitals. 

In  many  cases  in  Lancashire  the  excellent  drill 
halls  owned  by  St.  John  or  British  Eed  Cross 
Detachments  have  been  converted  into  Hospitals. 
Perhaps  one  of  the  most  typically  successful  is 
that  at  Eochdale.  Very  soon  after  the  outbreak 
of  war  it  was  converted  into  a  Hospital  with 
thirty  beds,  and  has  a  wonderful  little  operating 
theatre  and  all  the  necessary  offices. 

In  Lancashire  there  is  the  largest  V.A.D.  Hos- 
pital in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  it  is  run  by  St. 
John  Detachments.  It  is  situated  in  the  Grange, 
Southport,  and  has  500  beds.  In  December, 
1915,  the  Director-General  of  Medical  Services 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  MANCHESTER       67 

visited  the  Hospital  and  said  that  it  must 
become  a  Primary  one  instead  of  an  Auxiliary. 
When  it  was  found  that  its  accommodation  must 
be  increased  by  having  open-air  huts  set  up,  the 
work  was  effected  in  seven  weeks,  the  ground 
which  had  been  a  kitchen  garden  being  quickly 
converted  into  the  site  of  a  very  up-to-date  Hos- 
pital. 

Here  we  see  another  branch  of  V.A.D.  work, 
which  again  is  typical  of  what  is  going  on  in 
every  district.  V.A.D.  Pharmacists  in  this  Hos- 
pital have  control  of  an  enormous  store  of 
dressings  and  drugs.  Three  quarters  of  a 
ton  of  cotton  wool,  and  10,000  yards  of  gauze, 
bought  in  the  cheapest  competitive  market,  is  an 
incident  in  their  work.  The  dispensaries  are 
busy  at  midnight  instead  of  in  the  day,  for  the 
chemists  come  after  their  businesses  are  closed, 
and  toil  into  the  night  at  the  Hospitals,  prepar- 
ing the  lotions  for  the  next  day's  work  in  the 
wards,  making  mixtures,  and  attending  the  many 
orders  which  have  come  in  from  nurses  and  doc- 
tors during  the  day. 

The  kitchen  V.A.D.  members  here  have  no 
sinecure.  For  instance,  the  peeling  and  slicing 
of  186  pounds  of  potatoes,  the  cleaning  of  200 
knives,  forks  and  spoons,  the  scouring  of  sinks 
and  boilers,  is  a  magnificent  piece  of  volun- 
tary work  of  which  Southport  may  be  justly 
proud. 


6S    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

Blanket  Day. 

This  was  a  bright  idea,  a  reception  being  held 
in  Hesketh  Park,  admission  being  by  blanket, 
which  raised  1,000  of  these  necessary  articles. 

V,A.D,  Sewing  Room, 

The  Lady  Quartermasters  have  organised  this 
department,  an  enormous  amount  of  repairing 
and  stitching  having  been  done  there;  4,479 
yards  of  material  have  been  cut  out  in  the  Hos- 
pital itself  and  made  up  by  voluntary  workers. 

Convoys, 

It  is  not  anything  unusual  for  the  Hospital  to 
get  word  of  the  arrival  of  a  hundred  or  more 
patients  straight  from  the  train  within  a  few 
hours,  and  they  are  taken  into  the  Hospital  with- 
out any  delay. 

Fire, 

A  guard  of  the  Southport  Voluntary  Training 
Corps  is  on  duty  at  night  in  case  of  fire. 

Another  Instance  of  Quick  Work, 

The  Commandant  of  the  Southport  Hospital 
had  one  short  day's  notice  that  he  must  provide 
accommodation  for  seventy-five  men.  At  that 
moment  he  had  only  twenty-five  beds  empty. 
They  took  a  house  opposite  and  equipped  it,  and 
the  same  evening  received  the  extra  patients. 

We  cannot  pass  over  the  V.A.D.  work  in  East 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  MANCHESTER       69 

Lancashire  without  touching  on  some  of  the  beau- 
tiful houses  which  have  been  converted  into  Hos- 
pitals. Two  of  the  Hospitals,  Worsley  Hall  and 
The  Woodlands,  Wigan,  receive  no  Government 
grant. 

I  purposely  do  not  mention  any  names  as  it 
would  be  invidious  to  do  so,  for  it  is  quite  impos- 
sible to  say  that  any  one  man  or  woman  has 
worked  better  than  any  other,  or  that  any  of  the 
great  people  who  have  lent  their  mansions  and 
have  given  most  generous  support  have  been 
more  kindly  than  the  humbler  folk  who  have  lent 
their  houses  and  have  given  every  penny  they 
could  spare  to  the  work  of  succouring  the 
wounded. 

The  whole  object  of  this  book  would  be  defeated 
if  it  were  thought  to  be  written  about  any  par- 
ticular Hospital  or  department  of  V.A.D.  work. 
As  I  have  said  before,  I  am  trying  to  give  a  wide 
outlook  of  the  work  as  a  whole,  and  only  pick 
out  instances  here  and  there  to  make  my  point 
more  emphatic,  and  to  show  what  is  being  done 
by  the  thousands  of  men  and  women  who  have 
thrown  themselves  into  the  V.A.D.  movement. 

A  Typical  V.A.D.  Hospital. 

Call  to  mind  a  quiet  country  town,  with  its  old- 
world  buildings  and  its  quaint  little  High  Street 
nestling  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  wonderful 
Cumberland  hills. 


70    BEITAIN^S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

I  had  motored  up  from  Lancashire  through  the 
noisy,  dirty,  bustling  manufacturing  towns,  where 
the  streets  are  crowded  with  women  wearing 
shawls  over  their  heads,  and  with  children  who 
made  a  great  clatter  in  their  iron-ringed  clogs; 
the  car  slid  through  these  populous  towns  out 
into  the  wide  country  beyond,  and  gradually  we 
approached  the  mist-clad  hills  which  shelter  the 
beautiful  lakes  of  Cumberland. 

The  Friends'  Meeting  House  had  generously 
been  loaned  for  the  duration  of  the  war  to  a 
V.A.  Detachment,  and  it  had  been  made  into  an 
excellent  Hospital.  Turning  sharply  out  of  the 
High  Street  under  a  covered  archway,  the  car 
suddenly  came  to  a  standstill,  and  we  found  our- 
selves being  greeted  by  the  Commandant,  who 
forthwith  took  us  all  over  the  little  Hospital. 
Every  bed  was  filled  with  a  wounded  man,  but 
cheeriness  prevailed  in  all  the  wards,  and  the  men 
were  not  loiath  to  say  how  glad  they  were  to  be 
there. 

It  struck  me  then  that  the  effect  of  such  a  Hos- 
pital as  this  was  a  deeper  one  than  that  which 
appeared  on  the  surface.  It  had  been  set  up  in 
order  to  heal  broken  men,  but  in  the  carrying  out 
of  this  merciful  work  people  of  every  grade  had 
been  brought  together  and  had  worked  in  sym- 
pathy one  with  another. 

The  well-born  woman,  who  perhaps  had  never 
set  her  hand  to  rough  toil  before,  met  her  lowlier 


Disinfectors  mounted  on  a  steam  lorry.     Sent  to  France  by  the 
Order  of  St.  John  for  use  of  a  British  Regiment. 


A   view    of   the   interior.      The   lorry    supplies    steam    for   the 
disinfectors. 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  MANCHESTER       71 

sister  on  level  ground;  the  trades-people  of  the 
little  town  were  proud  to  send  in  gifts;  the 
farmers  in  outlying  farms  gave  eggs  and  butter; 
workmen  of  many  trades  had  given  their  valuable 
time  in  order  to  make  the  Hospital  as  perfect  as 
possible. 

Imagine  the  moral  if  not  ethical  effects  upon 
these  people  of  every  class,  drawn  together  by  one 
common  cause,  one  national  sorrow.  Surely  the 
result  of  the  establishment  of  hundreds  of  V.A.D. 
Hospitals  throughout  our  land  must  have  some 
lasting  influence  on  the  people  of  Great  Britain. 

It  is  an  aspect  of  V.A.D.  work  which  should  not 
be  overlooked;  and  whilst  one  does  not  want  to 
be  unpractical,  nor  can  one  have  any  delusions 
that  small  disagreements  have  not  constantly  oc- 
curred in  all  kinds  of  nursing  institutions,  the 
work  in  the  main  has  been  carried  on  with  a 
generosity  of  spirit  and  a  ^'following  after  the 
gleam,"  as  Tennyson  would  have  put  it,  which 
cannot  fail  to  have  its  good  effect  on  the  better 
national  understanding  of  class  for  class. 

V.A.D.  Victim  of  German  Treachery. 

One  of  the  very  earliest  of  the  many  V.A.D. 
members  who  have  given  their  lives  for  their 
country  was  a  woman  of  humble  circumstances 
who  was  working  in  a  Lancashire  V.A.D.  Hos- 
pital. I  was  being  shown  through  the  Hospi- 
tal by  the  Commandant  a  few  days  after  she 


72     BKITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

had  met  her  tragic  death,  and  he  told  me  all 
about  it. 

She  had  worked  in  the  Hospital  so  arduously 
that  her  health  broke  down  and  the  doctor  said 
that  she  must  have  a  rest.  She  was  not  in  a 
position  to  take  a  holiday,  but  having  the  chance 
of  going  as  stewardess  on  a  boat,  seized  the 
opportunity  gladly.  It  was  a  comparatively  small 
boat,  and  she  was  one  of  very  few  women  on  her. 
A  German  submarine  chased  them,  ordered  them 
to  stop,  and  gave  the  Captain  five  minutes  to 
put  all  his  people  into  small  boats.  Our  V.A.D. 
member  was  climbing  down  the  side  into  the  boat 
just  about  three  minutes  after  the  order  had  been 
given,  when  one  of  the  Germans,  it  is  alleged, 
deliberately  shot  her  and  she  fell  dead  into 
the  sea. 

Since  that  day,  alas,  the  list  of  V.A.D.  men  and 
women  who  have  fallen  has  become  an  appallingly 
long  one.  If  it  were  possible  I  should  like  to  give 
the  name  and  the  story  of  each  one  individually 
here,  but  that  is  out  of  the  question.  Whilst  I 
shall  touch  on  the  details  of  some  of  those  mem- 
bers who  have  given  their  lives  in  the  cause,  I 
hope  it  will  be  understood  that  they  are  typical 
cases  only,  and  that  I  am  perfectly  well  aware 
that  whilst  I  speak  of  the  few  members  of  whom 
I  know  personally,  there  are  dozens  of  others 
quite  as  magnificent  who  must  perforce  remain 
unmentioned. 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  MANCHESTER       73 

There  have  been  many  instances  of  girls  going 
out  to  Hospitals  in  foreign  lands  and  dying  of 
disease.  There  was  one  young  girl,  a  V.A.D. 
member,  who  had  been  in  Egypt  only  one  week 
when  she  contracted  typhoid  fever  and  died. 
There  have  been  nurses  in  France  who  have  be- 
come fatally  ill;  there  have  been  the  men  and 
women  on  Hospital  ships  which  have  been  tor- 
pedoed; and  there  is  a  huge  number  of  members 
who  have  either  seriously  injured  themselves  in 
the  course  of  their  work,  or  have  contracted  such 
illnesses  that  they  will  never  be  absolutely  fit 
again. 

It  is  all  taken  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  work. 
There  is  no  thought  of  grumbling;  in  fact  it  is 
almost  the  other  way  about ;  for  the  V.A.D.  mem- 
ber recognises  that  it  is  a  tremendous  privilege 
to  be  allowed  to  share  in  some  slight  measure  the 
dangers  and  the  risks  which  our  fighting  men 
take  as  an  everyday  matter. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Bombaedment  of  a  V.A.D.  Hospital 

HAPPILY  it  has  only  once  occurred,  so  far, 
that  a  Hospital  in  England  has  been  under 
German  fire;  but  it  is  interesting  to  remember 
the  stirring  story  of  that  event  and  to  know  that 
it  was  a  V.A.D.  Auxiliary  Hospital  which  under- 
went this  trying  experience. 

Nobody  will  ever  forget  the  effect  made  on  the 
minds  of  everyone  in  Great  Britain  when  the  news 
came  out  that  three  of  our  undefended  East  Coast 
towns  had  been  bombarded  by  German  ships. 
Scarborough,  Whitby  and  "West  Hartlepool  were 
the  first  English  towns  to  know  what  it  meant  to 
have  German  shrapnel  and  high  explosive  shells 
falling  in  their  midst. 

It  happened  early  in  the  morning  of  December 
16th,  1914,  and  the  story  was  simply  but  poign- 
antly told  to  me  by  the  Commandant  of  the  St. 
John  Hospital  which  actually  had  a  piece  of  shell 
hurled  through  it. 

The  Hospital  had  been  established  in  the 
Masonic  hall  in  West  Hartlepool,  the  hall  being 
situated  quite  a  mile  and  a  half  inland.  The  main 
hall  had  been  turned  into  the  chief  ward,  and  at 

74 


BOMBARDMENT  OF  HOSPITAL       75 

the  time  of  the  bombardment  there  were  only 
patients  in  this  ward,  the  beds  upstairs  being 
empty.  The  Hospital  was  in  charge  of  a  doctor 
who  was  also  an  old  St.  John  Ambulance  Brigade 
worker,  and  his  wife,  who  was  a  fully  trained 
nurse,  and  acted  as  Commandant.  They  slept 
away  from  the  Hospital,  leaving  a  fully  trained 
Sister  in  charge  at  night. 

The  bombardment  began  a  few  minutes  before 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  as  it  happened, 
the  Sister  in  charge  had  just  run  across  the  road 
to  her  bed-room  to  get  something  she  required, 
having  left  a  senior  V.A.D.  member  in  charge. 

The  first  whizz  of  a  shell  coming  over  the  Hos- 
pital startled  the  V.A.D.  nurse,  but  she  made  no 
comment  and  quietly  went  and  looked  out  of  the 
front  door  and  saw  for  herself  what  was  happen- 
ing. The  noise  of  the  shells  was  tremendous,  for 
the  Germans  seemed  to  have  poured  them  into  the 
town  at  a  quick  rate.  The  St.  John  member  went 
back  to  the  ward  and  ordered  all  the  men,  who 
were  luckily  more  or  less  convalescent,  to  get  up. 
There  was  one  empty  bed  in  the  ward.  Before 
the  men  had  time  to  get  out  of  bed  a  portion  of 
shrapnel  came  hurtling  through  one  of  the  win- 
dows and  fell  in  the  middle  of  that  one  empty  bed ! 

Still  there  was  no  panic.  The  men  scrambled 
into  their  clothes  and  were  collected  into  the  hall 
of  the  building,  as  that  was  the  centre,  and  the 
V.A.D.  member  judged  it  to  be  the  safest  place. 


76    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

She  guessed  that  the  gas  would  be  turned  off  and 
she  knew  that  they  would  be  requiring  large 
quantities  of  boiling  water  before  long,  so  she 
quietly  set  the  orderlies  to  making  big  fires  in 
every  room,  and  putting  kettles  on  to  boil.  Of 
course  by  this  time  the  Sister  in  charge  had  run 
back  and  did  valuable  service  in  preparing  for  the 
stream  of  wounded  which  began  to  arrive  at  the 
doors. 

Meanwhile,  the  doctor  and  his  wife  had  shown 
themselves  to  be  truly  heroic  and  splendidly  patri- 
otic by  setting  forth  inamediately  to  go  to  the 
Hospital.  They  left  their  little  children  in  the 
house  in  the  charge  of  an  aunt,  and  went  through 
the  shell-strewn  streets,  taking  their  lives  in  their 
hands. 

**It  must  have  been  hard  for  you  to  leave  the 
children,"  I  said  to  the  mother. 

**Yes,  it  was,  because  one  never  knew  whether 
a  shell  would  not  strike  the  house  at  any  moment ; 
but  of  course  it  was  our  simple  duty  to  come  to 
the  Hospital.  No  one  could  have  done  anything 
else." 

It  is  just  these  ** simple  duties"  which  mean 
everything  to  a  country  at  war.  It  never  occurred 
to  either  the  doctor  or  his  wife  that  they  were 
doing  anything  brave  or  splendid.  They  were  in 
charge  of  the  Hospital,  and  directly  it  was  men- 
aced their  place  was  in  it,  no  matter  what  their 
private  feelings  might  be. 


BOMBAEDMENT  OP  HOSPITAL       77 

All  that  morning  wounded  men,  women,  and 
children  were  being  brought  into  the  Hospital, 
some  of  them  dying,  and  many  of  them  maimed 
for  life.  One  woman,  whose  finger  I  saw  being 
dressed  whilst  I  was  there,  told  me  that  she  had 
been  sitting  in  her  kitchen  with  her  baby  on  her 
lap  when  a  shell  tore  through  the  roof  and  buried 
itself  away  in  the  ground  beneath  her.  As  it 
passed,  a  piece  of  shrapnel  took  her  little  finger 
off,  but  the  baby  was  untouched. 

The  wreckage  caused  by  the  bombardment  in 
West  Hartlepool  was  indescribable,  and  the  sto- 
ries of  ruined  homes  and  maimed  little  children 
are  too  horrible  for  repetition.  The  authorities  of 
the  town  let  the  gas  off  directly  the  bombard- 
ment began,  and  it  was  a  mercy  that  they  had 
done  so,  since  a  bomb  fell  quite  close  to  the  gas 
works. 

The  Germans  would  have  other  nations  believe 
that  these  three  towns  were  fortified,  just  as  they 
try  to  justify  themselves  when  they  sink  unarmed 
and  neutral  ships,  and  when  they  perpetrate  all 
sorts  of  atrocities  on  women  and  children  in  the 
countries  which  they  have  overrun;  but  there 
will  come  a  day  of  reckoning  when  the  whole 
world  will  know  the  truth,  and  will  know  that 
these  three  coast  towns  were  no  more  defended 
than  are  our  Hospital  ships  used  for  combative 
purposes. 


78    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

'A  Look  Round  the  North, 

Now  that  we  have  come  up  so  far  North,  (and 
my  readers  have  had  a  far  better  journey  than 
I  had,  for  I  happened  to  travel  at  a  moment  when 
the  whole  of  the  railway  traffic  was  upset,)  we 
may  as  well  have  a  look  round  at  the  wonderful 
work  which  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  have 
accomplished  in  Northumberland  and  Durham. 

Here,  as  in  all  the  other  districts  of  England, 
a  County  Director  has  been  appointed,  who  acts 
equally  for  the  British  Red  Cross  and  the  St. 
John  Ambulance.  This  arrangement  has  worked 
admirably,  and  it  is  remarkable  how  unbiassed 
these  County  Directors  have  shown  themselves  to 
be,  although  in  every  case  they  had  originally  be- 
longed to  one  or  other  of  the  organisations. 

A  very  large  number  of  V.A.D.  men  had  gone 
from  this  part  of  the  world  into  the  various  medi- 
cal branches  of  the  Army  and  Navy;  but  at  the 
end  of  December,  1915,  there  were  still  a  great 
many  male  V.A.D.  members  who  were  miners, 
munition  workers,  or  engaged  in  other  ** starred" 
employments. 

The  very  jfirst  work  that  fell  to  the  share  of 
the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  in  Newcastle  was 
to  establish  a  Rest  Station  at  the  Central  Rail- 
way Station,  to  attend  to  soldiers  passing  through 
Newcastle,  or  to  those  in  the  town  who  became  ill. 
Gradually  Hospitals  were  established  throughout 


BOMBAEDMENT  OF  HOSPITAL       79 

the  district,  some  of  them  being  especially  de- 
tailed for  the  work  of  attending  to  the  sick 
amongst  the  troops  stationed  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. Other  Hospitals  relieved  the  congestion  at 
the  great  Military  Hospital,  and  there  is  one 
Detention  Hospital  which  is  largely  staffed  by 
members  of  a  female  V.A.D.,  and  although  not 
classed  as  a  V.A.D.  Hospital,  has  been  carried  on 
by  this  Detachment  ever  since  in  conjunction  with 
successive  Field  Ambulance  Units. 

At  the  Rest  Station,  Newcastle. 

Members  of  the  Nursing  Divisions  of  the  St. 
John  Ambulance  Brigade  provided  this  Eest  Sta- 
tion in  one  of  the  waiting  rooms,  a  continuous 
service  of  members  being  on  duty  night  and  day. 
These  members  also  meet  Hospital  trains  pass- 
ing through  Newcastle  and  serve  tea,  coffee, 
cigarettes  and  sandwiches  to  the  men. 

There  are  sixteen  V.A.D.  Hospitals  in  Nor- 
thumberland alone,  and  many  of  these  are  in  his- 
toric houses  which  have  been  loaned  by  their 
owners  for  this  purpose.  Haggerston  Castle, 
Beal,  is  a  very  fine  place  for  a  Hospital,  whilst 
another  very  beautiful  house,  Holeyn  Hall,  Wy- 
lam-on-Tyne,  accommodates  fifty  beds. 

It  is  invidious  to  say  anything  about  special 
Hospitals  when  the  general  standard  is  such  a 
high  one.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  very  first  Hos- 
pital to  be  opened  in  this  district  was  the  one  at 


80     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

West  Hartlepool,  and  the  Military  Commandant 
of  the  town  told  me  personally  that  he  did  not 
know  what  they  would  have  done  without  it  in 
those  first  early  months  of  the  war  when  no 
military  medical  arrangements  had  been  made. 
Shortly  afterwards  Whinney  House  was  estab- 
lished at  Gateshead,  and  is  the  largest  Voluntary 
Aid  Hospital  of  the  North,  and  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  whole  of  England. 

TransporL 

The  entire  work  of  the  transport  of  patients 
from  Hospital  trains  to  Hospital  has  been  carried 
out  by  members  of  the  St.  John  Ambulance 
Brigade,  the  whole  work  being  put  under  a  Dis- 
trict Transport  Officer. 

Hospitals  in  Durham. 

In  the  county  of  Durham  nine  Hospitals  were 
opened  up  to  the  end  of  1914,  three  of  these  being 
for  local  troops.  In  a  year's  time  the  Hospitals 
had  increased  to  twenty-four,  and  since  then  a 
good  many  others  have  been  added. 

One  of  the  most  historic  of  these  Hospitals  is 
that  which  has  been  established  in  Brancepeth 
Castle.  It  has  106  beds  in  it.  The  great  rooms, 
still  decorated  with  fine  old  armour,  make  magnifi- 
cent wards. 

Windlestone  Hall,  Ferryhill,  is  another  of  the 
very  fine  Durham  Hospitals. 


BOMBAEDMENT  OF  HOSPITAL       81 

During  the  several  air  raids  which  the  northern 
towns  have  suffered,  much  good  work  has  been 
rendered  by  V.A.D.  members.  One  Detachment 
has  been  specially  assigned  to  this  duty  in  con- 
nection with  the  Coast  Defence  Scheme.  They 
are  always  on  the  alert,  and  ready  to  cope  with 
any  emergency  that  may  arise. 

Depot  for  Duty-Free  Goods  for  Hospitals. 

By  consent  of  the  Custom  House  authorities 
in  London,  the  County  Director  was  allowed  to 
open  a  depot  for  duty-free  goods  for  all  the  Mili- 
tary Hospitals  in  the  North  of  England.  A  great 
deal  of  admirable  work  has  been  done  at  this 
depot,  huge  gifts  of  tea,  tobacco  and  cigarettes 
having  passed  out  of  bond  through  the  depot  to 
the  Hospitals. 

A  Commandant  versus  a  Trained  Sister. 

In  the  report  of  the  work  of  the  British  Red 
Cross  Society  and  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Bri- 
gade in  the  northern  part  of  England  there  is  a 
note  about  the  difficulty  which  has  been  experi- 
enced in  some  places  of  assigning  the  exact  duties 
of  the  Commandant  and  the  trained  Sister.  It  is 
so  wisely  put  that  I  think  I  cannot  do  better  than 
quote  it,  and  as  the  report  says,  if  this  division  of 
work  were  entirely  understood,  no  difficulty 
would  arise  in  connection  with  the  respective  du- 
ties of  the  Commandant  and  the  trained  Sister. 


82    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

The  Commandant  **is  responsible  to  the  County 
Director  for  the  administration,  discipline  and 
maintenance  of  the  Hospital,  and  for  the  provi- 
sion of  the  necessary  V.A.D.  staff.  The  trained 
nurse  acting  in  the  capacity  of  Lady  Superintend- 
ent, Matron,  or  Sister-in-charge,  is  responsible 
for  the  wards  and  the  nursing  duties  connected 
with  the  Hospital,  and  to  arrange  all  the  work  of 
the  Probationers  who  are  under  her.  She  is 
responsible  to  the  Medical  Officer  of  the  Hospital 
for  her  patients." 

The  Staffing  of  a  Military  Hospital. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  first  notable 
example  of  the  complete  staffing  of  a  Military 
Hospital  occurred  at  the  Northumberland  War 
Hospital,  Gosforth,  when  a  contingent  from  No.  6 
district,  consisting  of  one  sergeant-major,  ten 
sergeants,  eleven  corporals,  and  a  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  privates,  was  sent  to  staff  this 
Hospital. 

Losses  hy  Death. 

This  district  has  suffered  terribly  by  losing 
members  through  death.  Their  men  have  been 
killed  in  the  Dardanelles,  in  France  and  in  Alex- 
andria ;  whilst  others  have  died  in  Hospital  in  the 
East  and  in  Malta.  They  have'  lost  a  good  many 
members  of  the  women's  V.A.D.  also  by  death. 


BOMBARDMENT  OF  HOSPITAL       83 

War  Honours, 

But  on  the  other  hand  the  district  has  been 
cheered  by  several  of  its  members  having  received 
special  war  honours.  One  man  has  won  the  Cross 
of  the  Russian  Order  of  St.  George;  another  the 
French  Croix  de  Guerre  for  services  in  the 
Vosges  with  a  motor  ambulance ;  a  Nursing  Sister 
has  had  presented  to  her  the  Gold  Medal  of  the 
Montenegrin  Red  Cross  by  the  Queen  of  Mon- 
tenegro, and  the  Gold  Medal  of  the  Order  of 
Danilo  by  the  King  of  Montenegro;  whilst  two 
men  have  earned  the  D.C.M.  and  the  D.S.M.  re- 
spectively. 

Probably  by  the  time  these  words  are  in  print 
these  honours  will  have  been  added  to ;  but  it  is 
good  to  know  that  the  men  and  women  members 
of  the  V.A.D.'s  from  all  over  the  kingdom — nay, 
from  all  over  the  Empire — are  earning  not  only 
war  medals  which  they  can  wear  upon  their 
breasts,  but  something  that  is  higher  and  deeper 
and  greater — the  love  and  the  respect  of  those 
amongst  whom  they  labour. 


CHAPTER  IX 
V.A.D.  Work  in  the  South 

FOR  travellers  such  as  ourselves,  who  do  not 
have  to  wait  for  trains,  and  certainly  can 
surpass  aeroplanes  in  the  matter  of  rapidity,  it 
is  nothing  for  us  to  fly  from  the  North  to  the 
South  in  order  to  get  a  peep  at  V.A.D.  work 
there. 

For  a  moment  we  will  pass  over  the  **  little  vil- 
lage of  London,"  as  our  Canadian  cousins  are 
fond  of  calling  it,  and  fly  on  to  the  beautiful  land 
of  Devon,  which  we  will  take  as  a  typical  example 
of  what  is  going  on  all  along  the  southern  coast 
of  England. 

It  was  in  the  year  1909,  when  the  Voluntary 
Aid  movement  was  in  its  infancy,  that  the  people 
of  Devon  took  it  up  enthusiastically,  and  raised 
many  Detachments  in  the  towns  round  about. 
There  were  many  difficulties  and  differences,  and 
much  ignorance  and  even  hostility  had  to  be  over- 
come, we  are  told,  before  the  V.A.  organisation 
acquired  vitality  and  prominence ;  but  the  County 
grappled  with  these  difficulties,  and  worked  out 
a  scheme  of  V.A.  organisation  on  its  own  lines, 

84 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  THE  SOUTH         85 

the  guiding  principle  being  the  necessity  for  form- 
ing the  Detachments  into  a  definitely  organised 
force.  County  headquarters  were  established, 
and  from  there  absolute  control  was  kept  over  all 
the  units. 

The  Commandants  of  the  various  Detachments 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  bare  bones,  as  it  were, 
of  First  Aid  and  Home  Nursing  being  learned  by 
their  members.  They  insisted  that  they  should 
get  real  Hospital  training,  and  advanced  courses 
of  instruction  were  given,  with  frequent  field 
days  and  competitions,  the  diligent  preparation 
and  equipment  of  buildings  for  use  as  Hospitals, 
and  the  seizing  of  all  possible  opportunities  for 
taking  practical  training  in  Hospitals.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  this  early  training  has  left  a  very 
definite  mark  upon  the  war  work  which  has  been 
accomplished  by  these  V.A.  Detachments.  This 
is  a  very  important  point  to  be  remembered  by  all 
who  are  interested  in  the  history  of  the  Voluntary 
Aid  movement. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  standard  of  the 
Detachments  all  over  the  Kingdom  was  not  an 
equal  one.  People  were  too  apt  to  think  that  war 
was  a  chimera  which  would  never  materialize,  and 
that  members  belonging  to  V.A.  Detachments 
were  simply  amusing  themselves  by  playing  at 
something  which  never  would  be  brought  into 
practical  use. 

It  is  true  that  the  War  Office  very  wisely  in- 


86     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

sisted  on  holding  an  annual  inspection  of  every 
registered  Detachment,  and  for  the  moment  this 
brought  the  members  up  to  a  state  of  efficiency; 
but  the  truth  remains  that  real,  keen  enthusiasm 
for  the  work  seems  to  have  run  in  ** veins,"  as  it 
were,  throughout  the  country,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  but  that  the  county  of  Devon  may  be  prop- 
erly proud  of  having  been  one  of  the  richest 
*' veins"  which  existed  in  England  before  the  war 
broke  out. 

The  preparations  before  the  war  were  so  well 
thought  out  that  few  changes  of  any  kind  had  to 
be  made.  Some  months  before  the  outbreak  of 
war  a  test  mobilization  was  held  on  a  large  scale 
in  order  to  see  exactly  what  would  happen  in  the 
unlikely  event  of  England  being  invaded.  The 
plans  which  were  utilised  that  day  have  required 
little  or  no  modification  for  the  war  work  which 
has  been  carried  on,  though  happily  it  has  not 
been  in  the  nature  of  dealing  with  the  invasion 
of  our  island.  Enough  women  had  qualified  as 
V.A.D.  nurses  before  the  war  to  staff  the  present 
twenty-one  Hospitals  which  exist  in  Devon  (at 
the  time  of  writing)  exclusive  of  the  work  in 
Plymouth. 

Two  Objects. 

They  realised  in  Devon  a  point  which  was  over- 
looked by  a  good  many  Voluntary  Aid  Detach- 
ments.   They  knew  that  the  object  of  V.A.D.  work 


St.   John   litter,   which   will  take  either  the   St.   John  or   the 
army  stretchers. 


Undercarriage  packed  for  transport. 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  THE  SOUTH         87 

was  twofold:  first  the  tending  of  wounded  and 
sick  men  from  the  Front,  and  secondly,  the  tend- 
ing of  garrison  troops  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Men  Direct  from  Hospital  Ships. 

The  report  from  Devon  tells  us  that  the  Hos- 
pitals of  Exeter,  Newton  Abbot  and  Torquay  take 
eases  direct  from  the  Hospital  ships  at  South- 
ampton, and  are  in  this  respect  almost  unique 
among  the  V.A.D.  Hospitals  in  England. 

Catering  for  Hospitals. 

They  work  the  catering  for  Hospitals  in  this 
district  on  a  general  system  with  admirable 
results.  An  office  has  been  set  apart  for  the  spe- 
cial work  of  catering  for  all  the  extra  Hospitals 
and  for  providing  food  for  the  Rest  Stations.  It 
has  answered  admirably  both  from  the  economi- 
cal point  of  view  and  from  having  good  food  sup- 
plied to  each  Hospital  without  any  trouble  to  the 
individual  Commandants. 

Quick  Work, 

Devon  has  not  been  behind  in  supplying  some 
instance  of  exceptionally  quick  work. 

At  one  of  the  Hospitals  a  telegram  was  received 
at  nine  o'clock  on  a  Sunday  morning  that  forty- 
five  patients  would  be  sent  from  Southampton  in 
the  course  of  the  day.  No  patients  had  been 
previously  received,  nor  had  the  staff  been  sum- 


88     BRITAIN  »S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

moned.  By  4.30  p.m.,  forty-nine  patients  had  been 
put  to  bed  and  treatment  begun ! 

Another  Hospital  was  mobilised  at  forty-eight 
hours'  notice  to  deal  with  a  prevailing  epidemic 
of  influenza. 

A  building  which  had  been  used  as  a  store,  and 
was  quite  unsuitable  as  a  Hospital  as  it  was  then, 
was  converted  in  forty-eight  hours. 

West  of  England  Eye  Infirmary. 

Notice  of  mobilisation  of  this  Hospital  was  re- 
ceived at  mid-day  on  Sunday,  October  4th,  1914. 
The  Hospital  was  equipped  and  ready  for  receiv- 
ing patients  by  mid-day  on  Monday,  October  5th. 

At  Exeter  on  a  Sunday  in  October,  1914,  a  tele- 
phone message  was  received,  saying  that  the  Hos- 
pital must  be  opened  immediately  for  the  recep- 
tion of  sick  from  the  local  garrison.  On  the 
following  Monday  a  Hospital  with  sixty  beds, 
fully  equipped,  was  ready,  and  patients  were  re- 
ceived during  the  day.  This  building  had  been 
previously  earmarked  and  all  the  necessary 
equipment  was  ready,  but  at  the  actual  time  of 
the  telephone  message  arriving  it  was  still  a 
Children's  Home  under  the  Local  Government 
Board.  The  local  officers  were  extremely  prompt 
in  their  removal  of  the  children,  and  in  less  than 
twelve  hours  the  building  was  handed  over  to  the 
y.A.D.  staff. 

In  the  following  February  there  was  a  severe 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  THE  SOUTH         89 

outbreak  of  bronchial  pneumonia  in  some  bar- 
racks, and  a  very  serious  state  of  affairs  was  cre- 
ated because  of  the  lack  of  Hospital  accommoda- 
tion. A  building  in  the  Barrack  Square,  which 
had  been  originally  a  Quartermaster's  store  and 
had  not  been  used  at  all  for  about  twenty-five 
years,  was  offered  to  the  V.A.  organisation  for 
the  purpose  of  a  Hospital.  In  less  than  forty- 
eight  hours  it  was  fully  equipped  and  staffed,  and 
patients  were  being  admitted.  This  was  a  case 
when  no  sort  of  previous  warning  had  been  given 
that  such  a  thing  could  possibly  be  requested. 
The  building  was  exceedingly  dirty,  and  it  had 
to  be  cleaned  by  the  V.A.  staff  before  any  sort 
of  equipment  could  be  put  into  it. 

To  add  to  the  worries  of  the  V.A.  authorities, 
it  was  during  the  work  of  getting  this  Hospital 
ready  that  a  convoy  of  a  hundred  cases  had  ar- 
rived direct  from  overseas,  and  had  to  be  trans- 
ported to  Hospitals  in  Exeter.  Troubles  never 
come  alone,  and  it  was  really  enough  to  cause 
some  sort  of  excitement  when  they  heard,  in  addi- 
tion, that  some  cases  of  measles  had  developed  in 
one  of  the  Hospitals  and  must  be  isolated.  The 
Administrator  says  with  charming  modesty,  **I 
think  perhaps,  therefore,  that  these  particular  two 
days  were  as  full  of  incident  for  V.A.  workers 
in  Exeter  as  any  we  have  ever  had." 

Here  again,  the  joining  of  the  two  great  Socie- 
ties has  worked  smoothly  and  well.    The  Head- 


90    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

quarters  is  staffed  by  V.A.  members  trained  from 
both  Societies.  It  seems  that  this  staff  carries 
out  a  work  which  is  usually  done  by  the  Central 
Military  Hospital  of  a  district  and  not  by  the  Vol- 
untary Aid  organisation  at  all,  and  it  is  charming 
indeed  to  hear  from  one  of  the  chief  authorities  in 
Devon  that  **  there  never  was  at  any  time  friction 
between  the  two  organisations.'' 

Transport. 

At  Torquay  the  whole  of  the  transport  for  the 
Red  Cross  Hospitals  is  done  by  St.  John  men, 
whilst  in  Exeter  the  transport  is  done  by  British 
Red  Cross  and  St.  John  men  combined.  Several 
St.  John  members  are  serving  in  British  Red 
Cross  Hospitals.  The  Administrator  of  the 
Headquarters  Staff,  a  military  office  appointed  by 
the  Military  authorities,  is  rightly  proud  of  being 
able  to  say,  *  *  so  that  you  see  we  are  quite  impar- 
tial, as  personally  I  think  all  Voluntary  Aid  or- 
ganisations should  be." 

Two  Hours'  Notice, 

The  St.  John  Hospital  at  Newton  Abbot  re- 
ceived a  sudden  message  that  forty  cases  were 
coming  direct  to  them  from  overseas,  and  would 
be  with  them  in  two  hours'  time.  The  Hospital 
was  not  open  to  patients,  but  the  staff  turned  to, 
and  within  two  hours  forty  beds  were  ready  for 
the.  men. 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  THE  SOUTH         91 

This  is  the  kind  of  thing  that  has  been  happen- 
ing in  V.A.D.  Hospitals  in  every  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  in  every  case  the  V.A.D.  staff  has  risen 
to  the  occasion  and  accomplished  what  apparent- 
ly looked  like  the  impossible. 


CHAPTER  X 

Some  op  the  Wobk  in  London 

TO  attempt  to  give  any  sort  of  adequate  de- 
scription of  the  V.A.D.  work  that  has  gone  on 
in  London  ever  since  the  war  began  would  be 
ridiculous,  for  it  would  need  a  volume  to  itself. 
Therefore  I  must  beg  for  leniency,  and  hope  that 
my  readers  will  take  each  incident  which  I  men- 
tion and  multiply  it  by  a  hundred  at  least,  and 
then  they  may  arrive  at  some  sort  of  correct 
result. 

On  that  terrible  August  Bank  Holiday  before 
war  was  actually  declared,  many  members  of  the 
St.  John  Ambulance  Brigade  were  out  on  duty  on 
the  open  spaces  around  London,  and  some  of  them 
occupied  their  spare  time  between  attending  to 
accidents  by  writing  postcards  to  men  belonging 
to  Detachments  telling  them  where  the  Military 
and  Naval  authorities  wished  them  to  report  them- 
selves on  the  following  day. 

It  was  wonderful  how  promptly  the  men  turned 
out,  leaving  their  work  and  their  homes  in  order 
to  go  to  the  help  of  their  country.  The  women 
members  were  not  behindhand.  Dozens  of  them 
were  employed  during  that  first  week  of  the  war 

92 


SOME  OF  THE  WOKK  IN  LONDON      93 

in  making  tourniquets  for  the  equipment  of  Mili- 
tary or  Naval  Medical  Units. 

The  historic  St.  John's  Gate,  Clerkenwell, 
breathing  history  from  its  beautiful  old  rooms, 
became  a  beehive  of  earnest  workers,  which  was 
only  equalled  for  activity  by  the  Headquarters 
of  the  British  Red  Cross  Society. 

Belgian  Refugees. 

One  of  the  first  London  Detachments  to  get  to 
work  was  one  belonging  to  the  British  Red  Cross 
Society.  It  had  offered  to  it  a  very  large  ware- 
house close  to  Victoria  Station.  It  was  a  huge 
job  to  clean  it  down,  but  the  members  of  the  De- 
tachment made  short  work  of  it,  and  in  an  in- 
credible space  of  time  the  many  floors  of  the  great 
building  were  turned  into  dormitories  filled  with 
beds. 

Hundreds  of  hungry,  weary,  half -clothed  Bel- 
gian refugees  were  taken  into  this  house  day  by 
day  and  given  food  and  rest. 

It  was  a  good  piece  of  work  that  was  done  on 
the  spur  of  an  emergency,  but  very  soon  the  De- 
tachment turned  its  mind  and  its  capacity  to  work 
more  in  the  nature  of  that  for  which  it  had  been 
formed.  People  not  skilled  in  nursing  could  deal 
with  the  ** Belgian''  problem,  and  they  came 
forward  nobly,  gradually  releasing  members  of 
Detachments  who  could  be  of  real  use  in  Hospital 
work. 


94    BRITAIN «  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Hospital  for  Officers. 

One  of  the  first  V.A.D.  Hospitals  for  officers 
was  opened  in  the  beautiful  house  in  Cadogan 
Gardens,  which  was  most  kindly  lent  by  Viscount- 
ess Mountgarret.  A  St.  John  Detachment  ran 
the  Hospital,  with  a  certain  number  of  fully 
trained  Sisters  to  take  charge  of  the  nursing. 

Since  then  so  many  of  the  most  beautiful 
houses  in  London  have  been  given  up  as  Hos- 
pitals that  it  is  impossible  to  mention  them  by 
name.  Such  historic  houses  as  Londonderry 
House,  Dorchester  House,  and  quite  recently 
Grosvenor  House,  have  been  given  over  for  the 
use  of  our  wounded  men ;  and  wherever  they  are 
you  may  be  certain  that  you  will  meet  members 
of  a  V.A.  Detachment. 

An  Army  Matron  of  an  Officers'  Hospital  not 
a  stone's  throw  from  Park  Lane  told  me  that  she 
had  been  amazed  at  the  capability  shown  by  her 
V.A.D.  nurses.  She  said,  **I  am  a  strict  disci- 
plinarian, and  I  believe  in  pouncing  on  them  if 
they  do  not  do  their  work  well,  but  I  must  say 
they  are  extraordinarily  good,  as  a  rule.  Some 
of  the  senior  ones,  who  had  had  a  certain  amount 
of  training  before  the  war  and  have  since  worked 
regularly  in  Hospital,  are  quite  equal  to  any 
regular  Hospital  staff  nurse.  I  watch  each  one 
closely  before  I  allow  her  to  have  any  responsi- 
bility; but  I  have  found  many  of  them  capable. 


SOME  OF  THE  WOEK  IN  LONDON     95 

extraordinarily  conscientious,  and  all-round  good 
workers.'' 

The  White  City  as  a  Hospital. 

Who  amongst  those  of  us  who  remember  the 
White  City  as  nothing  but  a  place  of  entertain- 
ment and  amusement  could  ever  have  imagined 
that  a  portion  of  it  would  become  a  Hospital! 
In  turn  the  great  buildings  of  the  erstwhile  exhi- 
bition have  served  for  many  purposes  since  the 
war  began;  but  one  of  the  earliest  was  the  shel- 
tering of  sick  recruits. 

Many  civilians  seem  to  overlook  the  fact  that 
in  creating  a  huge  Army  as  we  have  done  during 
this  war,  the  Military  authorities  have  not  only 
to  think  of  the  wounded  and  sick  from  the  Front, 
but  must  establish  Hospitals  for  the  reception  of 
men  who  become  ill  whilst  on  home  duty. 

It  was  for  the  recruits  billeted  in  the  White 
City  that  the  Hospital  there  was  needed,  and  for 
many  months  it  did  magnificent  work.  It  fell  to 
the  happy  lot  of  a  British  Red  Cross  Detach- 
ment to  start  the  work.  Let  the  Commandant  of 
the  Detachment  tell  the  story  of  that  work : 

On  October  18th,  1914,  we  were  told  that  in  three 
days '  time  we  should  be  required  to  open  a  sixteen 
bed  Hospital  in  the  Eoyal  Pavilion,  as  some  thou- 
sands of  troops  were  to  be  accommodated  in  the 
White  City  at  once. 


96     BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

We  spent  from  that  date  to  the  morning  of  the 
21st  in  collecting  from  the  inhabitants  of  the 
neighbourhood  who  had  already  promised  us  help, 
should  the  necessity  arise,  the  equipment  for  the 
Hospital.  Everything  was  plainly  marked  and 
entered  in  books  by  our  Quartermaster  as  either 
a  gift  or  a  loan,  and  what  was  lacking  was  sup- 
plemented out  of  the  funds  of  the  Society. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  21st,  we  were  given  pos- 
session of  the  Pavilion  in  a  quite  incomplete  form. 
Work  was  still  going  on  at  the  drains,  the  light- 
ing, the  heating,  and  the  gas-stoves  in  the  kitchen. 
Our  staff  of  twenty  got  to  work  at  once,  and  by 
four  o'clock  we  had  everything  in  readiness,  and 
as  the  troops  were  already  coming  in,  accidents 
might  happen  at  any  moment. 

By  six  o  'clock,  one  ward  of  eight  beds  was  fully 
equipped  in  every  way;  and  by  ten  o'clock  next 
morning  both  wards,  the  day-room  with  all  its 
stores,  and  the  kitchen  were  in  full  working  order, 
and  patients  had  already  begun  to  arrive. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  fortnight  it  was  realised 
that  the  accommodation  was  quite  inadequate,  and 
another  pavilion  was  handed  over  to  us  in  which 
we  placed  sixteen  beds.  This  was  opened  at  once, 
and  we  found  it  was  necessary  to  shut  a  portion 
of  it  off  to  make  a  small  isolation  ward.  Naturally, 
the  moment  a  case  was  known  to  be  infectious  it 
was  removed. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  month  we  handed  over 


SOME  OF  THE  WORK  IN  LONDON     97 

the  Hospital  complete  to  a  St.  John  Detachment, 
who  ran  it  for  a  month  and  then  handed  it  back 
to  us. 

In  the  following  January  it  was  again  found 
imperative  to  enlarge,  so  a  corner  of  the  Officers' 
Mess  was  given  over  to  us  to  make  yet  another 
ward  of  nine  beds. 

At  the  beginning  of  February  an  epidemic  of 
measles  made  it  necessary  for  us  to  equip  a  large 
empty  pavilion  in  the  neighbourhood,  but  it  was 
run  by  a  trained  nurse  and  two  orderlies,  we  only 
being  responsible  for  supervision,  laundry  and 
food. 

We  also  had  a  very  large  Out-Patient  depart- 
ment, where  during  the  six  months  we  treated 
some  thousands  of  patients,  exclusive  of  all  inocu- 
lations which  took  place  there.  We  supplied  our 
own  dispensary. 

Our  staff  consisted  of  myself,  as  Commandant 
in  c>arge, 

1  Lady  Superintendent, 

1  Matron, 

1  Quartermaster, 

5  cooks, 

1  dispenser, 

1  trained  nurse  for  night  duty, 

2  V.A.D.  nurses  "^or  night  duty, 

9  V.A.D.  nurses  for  general  nursing  duty, 

1  clerk. 

The  work  was  exceedingly  heavy,  as  there  was 


98     BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

such  a  constant  changing  of  patients.  Much  of 
our  equipment  was  improvised;  all  our  stores, 
pack  stores,  cupboards,  etc.,  consisting  of  sugar 
boxes  built  up,  lined  with  glazed  calico,  and  cur- 
tained off.  We  did  all  our  own  upholstery  work, 
and  put  up  our  own  shelves,  etc.  Our  cooks  were 
constantly  complimented  upon  their  cooking. 

When  the  time  came  for  the  Hospital  to  be 
closed  we  had  very  little  notice,  and  we  cleared 
everything  up  in  three  days,  returning  all  stores 
to  the  Divisional  store,  packed  for  the  most  part 
in  the  sugar  cases  which  had  served  as  cup- 
boards. 

Since  the  troops  left  the  White  City  it  has  been 
used  for  many  other  Government  purposes,  and 
there  is  a  permanent  Ambulance  Station  there 
where  an  old  St.  John  Sergeant  is  in  charge,  to- 
gether with  a  trained  nurse  and  a  junior  nurse. 

The  modest,  bare  report  of  the  work  thus  given 
by  the  Commandant  must  be  embroidered,  as  it 
were,  by  the  reader.  We  can  fill  in  for  ourselves 
with  but  little  effort  some  rough  idea  of  the  work 
that  this  undertaking  meant  to  that  little  band  of 
V.A.D.  members. 

The  White  City  lies,  as  everyone  knows,  on  the 
outskirts  of  London.  It  is  not  an  easy  place  to 
get  at,  and  the  Detachment  which  had  the  work  in 
hand  came  from  one  of  the  fashionable  suburbs 
some  miles  away.    Many  of  these  members  must 


SOME  OF  THE  WOEK  IN  LONDON     99 

have  had  quite  a  long  journey  to  get  to  their  work 
in  the  morning  and  back  again  at  night. 

It  happened  that  it  was  during  the  winter,  and 
bitter  weather  prevailed  a  great  part  of  the  time. 
Exhibition  buildings  are  not  the  warmest  of 
places,  (except  those  which  were  fitted  up  as 
wards,)  and  there  was  of  necessity  a  good  deal  of 
running  between  one  building  and  another.  Yet 
these  devoted  women  took  no  credit  to  themselves, 
but  just  went  straight  ahead  with  the  work  in 
hand  and  accomplished  it  so  well  that  they  had 
high  commendation  for  it  from  the  Military  au- 
thorities. 

Worlc  at  the  3d  London  General  Hospital. 

In  the  early  autumn  of  1915,  this  same  Detach- 
ment was  detailed  for  work  at  the  3d  London 
General  Hospital,  one  of  the  biggest  Military  Hos- 
pitals in  the  Metropolis.  It  is  situated  on  a  large, 
open  common  and  is  magnificently  equipped. 

More  men  had  been  wanted  for  the  fighting 
forces  or  for  Ambulance  work  on  the  field,  and  a 
great  many  orderlies  in  the  Military  Hospitals 
had  been  withdrawn  for  these  purposes.  Women 
in  all  grades  of  life  had  volunteered  to  undertake 
men's  work,  and  women  members  of  V.A.  De- 
tachments were  determined  to  try  to  fill  the  va- 
cancies caused  by  men  orderlies  being  taken  away. 
It  was  an  experiment,  but  one  that  has  proved 
most  successful,  not  only  in  London  but  in  France. 


100  BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

Eleven  of  the  Detachment  which  had  worked  in 
the  White  City,  including  the  Commandant,  and 
three  members  from  other  Detachments  went  to 
the  3d  London  General  Hospital  for  a  month,  and 
they  did  so  well  that  at  the  end  of  that  time  many 
other  Hospitals  adopted  the  same  idea. 

The  Commandant  says,  **We  worked  in  the 
Admission  and  Discharge  office,  the  Stewards' 
Store,  the  linen  store,  the  telephone-call  office,  the 
post-office,  the  main  hall  pay  office,  and  we  did  the 
typewriting  and  secretarial  work  of  the  Hospital. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  month  there  were  thirty- 
four  members  at  work  there  in  the  places  of  men 
who  had  gone  abroad  on  service. 

**From  there  last  March  seven  of  us  were  de- 
tailed for  France,  and  we  are  now  working  in  the 
wards,  the  kitchens  and  the  offices  of  a  Hospital 
there,  whilst  I  have  charge  of  the  Sisters '  Mess. ' ' 

The  Commandant  adds  that  she  cannot  say 
enough  for  the  loyalty  and  devotion  that  her  mem- 
bers have  shown  since  the  beginning  of  the  war. 
It  is  nice  to  hear  a  superior  officer  say  that,  but 
one  has  not  much  doubt  of  what  the  members 
would  say  about  her.  It  is  the  old  saying  over 
again — **a  good  officer  makes  good  men." 

It  always  interested  me  immensely  to  watch  the 
methods  of  officers  with  their  men  on  the  troop 
trains  as  they  went  up  to  the  Front.  I  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  officer  who  could  not  get 
obedience  from  his  men,  or  complained  of  their 


SOME  OF  THE  WOEKlk  LONDON    101 

behaviour,  was  not  the  right  man  for  his 
work. 

It  is  exactly  the  same  thing  in  V.A.D.  work. 
Almost  invariably  it  lies  in  the  hands  of  the  Com- 
mandant of  each  Unit  to  make  or  to  mar  the  work 
of  the  members.  He  or  she  can  impart  enthusi- 
asm, loyalty,  devotion  to  duty,  to  an  extraordinary 
degree  by  first  setting  a  high  example,  and  sec- 
ondly by  attaching  the  members  to  himself  or 
herself  by  the  cords  of  personal  affection  and 
respect. 

Commandants  who  do  not  insist  on  discipline 
and  on  being  properly  treated  will  never  make 
their  members  as  efficient  in  their  work  as  they 
should  be.  The  member  who  respects  himself  or 
herself  will  take  a  pride  in  saying  **Sir''  to  the 
Medical  Officer  and  to  all  superiors  whilst  on  duty. 
They  will  rise  when  a  superior  enters  the  room, 
and  they  will  learn  to  keep  their  tempers  whatso- 
ever the  provocation  may  be.  V.A.D.  members 
are,  in  fact,  a  kind  of  extra  arm  to  the  Army,  and 
should  be  glad  to  accept  military  discipline  as  a 
part  of  their  training. 

The  speech  of  a  very  raw  V.A.D.,  who  said,  **I 
do  not  see  that  there  is  any  need  for  some  people 
to  be  seniors  and  some  people  to  be  juniors,  be- 
cause we  are  all  grown-up  women,"  showed  her- 
self not  only  lacking  in  common-sense  but  also  un- 
fitted for  the  work.  Seniority  and  rank  there  must 
be  in  every  big  organisation,  and  it  is  generally  a 


102  BEITAIN^'g  6lViLIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

case  of  the  '  *  survival  of  the  fittest. ' '  The  man  or 
the  woman  who  has  taken  the  greatest  trouble  to 
learn  the  work  almost  invariably  climbs  the  ladder 
to  the  higher  places,  and  therefore  has  a  right  to 
be  obeyed  by  those  who  have  taken  less  trouble  to 
equip  themselves. 

There  are  still  a  few  people  who  consider 
it  is  infra  dig  to  bow  to  discipline,  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact  it  is  just  the  other  way  about,  for 
no  person  can  rule  who  cannot  obey,  and  in 
honouring  their  superiors  they  are  honouring 
themselves. 

The  vast  majority  of  V.A.  Detachments  have 
excellent  discipline,  and  I  would  not  like  them  as 
a  whole  to  think  that  I  am  venturing  to  criticise 
them;  but  this  seems  to  be  an  opportunity  for 
saying  just  a  word  to  any  of  those  who  may  not 
have  thought  out  the  thing  carefully,  and  who 
imagine  that  because  V.A.D.  members  are  volun- 
tary and  give  valuable  time  and  services  without 
any  thought  of  reward,  they  should  not  be  asked 
to  submit  themselves  to  strict  control. 

There  is  a  fascination  about  seeing  a  well- 
disciplined  V.A.  Detachment  where  they  have 
learned  to  march  well,  to  stand  at  attention  when 
spoken  to  by  a  superior,  to  reply  briskly  and  brief- 
ly, and  to  pay  respect  to  the  smallest  detail  that 
has  been  ordered  by  an  officer ;  above  all  it  is  good 
to  see  them  draw  themselves  up  sharply  to  atten- 
tion when  the  National  Anthem  is  played,  and  to 


SOME  OF  THE  WORK  IN  LONDON    103 

stand  with  head  erect  and  steady  eyes  until  the 
last  note  has  died  away. 

These  things  seem  to  come  naturally  to  men,  so 
that  the  male  Detachments  are  almost  invariably 
excellent  in  all  these  ways ;  but  just  here  and  there 
one  comes  across  a  women's  Detachment  which 
has  not  yet  learned  the  inestimable  value  of  strict 
discipline. 

After  having  travelled  thousands  of  miles  in 
order  to  see  V.A.D.  work,  there  are  certain  pic- 
tures left  in  my  mind,  and  none  are  more  vivid  or 
more  pleasant  than  those  which  recall  the  smart 
appearance  of  dozens  of  Detachments  throughout 
the  country  where  the  members  take  a  pride,  not 
only  in  themselves  and  their  conduct,  but  in  their 
Detachment,  which  is  to  them  a  corporate  body,  in 
which  the  standard  must  be  the  highest. 

Discipline  is  no  chimera  or  fantasy.  Its  effects 
permeate  the  whole  work  of  the  Detachment,  and 
many  a  hasty  word  that  has  risen  to  the  lips  of  a 
V.A.D.  member,  and  has  been  checked  simply  be- 
cause she  has  been  taught  not  to  give  way  to  her 
feelings,  has  prevented  an  uncomfortable  scene  in 
a  Hospital  ward.  The  good  old  Army  rule  of 
obey  first  and  complain  afterwards  should  become 
one  of  the  mottoes  of  all  V.A.D.  members. 

Artists  as  Orderlies, 

The  Colonel  of  a  Military  Hospital  in  London 
did  not  know  where  to  turn  to  get  orderlies,  but 


104  BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

one  day  lie  had  a  bright  idea,  and  that  very  even- 
ing obtained  an  introduction  to  a  certain  artists' 
club  in  Chelsea. 

He  spoke  to  the  members,  telling  them  of  the 
needs  of  the  Hospital,  and  showed  them  how  much 
they  owed  to  the  wounded  men.  Several  of  the 
members  were  over  military  age,  or  for  other  rea- 
sons had  not  felt  able  to  enlist;  but  before  the 
Colonel  left  the  cliib  that  evening  he  had  quite  a 
long  list  of  artists  who  had  promisefl  to  enter  the 
ranks  the  next  day  as  R.A.M.C.  orderlies.  They 
kept  their  word  and  have  done  magnificent  service, 
the  majority  of  them  being  very  well  known  in 
the  world  of  art. 

Of  course  they  knew  nothing  about  Hospital 
work,  and  it  was  highly  amusing  to  hear  one  of 
them  describe  his  experiences  during  the  first 
weeks  of  work.  He  shaved  off  his  beard  of  course, 
and  was  quite  unrecognisable  to  his  friends  in  his 
Tommy's  uniform. 

Many  of  these  men  had  never  done  a  labourious 
day's  work  in  their  lives,  and  one  of  them  had  to 
be  actually  taught  how  to  scrub  by  a  ward  Sister ; 
but  against  their  ignorance  of  Hospital  routine 
one  can  put  their  education  and  their  anxiety  to 
learn,  and  within  a  very  few  weeks  they  had  fallen 
into  the  work  as  to  the  manner  born. 

They  do  the  ward  work,  the  kitchen  work,  the 
garden  work ;  they  go  out  on  the  convoys,  and  they 
take  long  journeys  in  charge  of  patients  who  have 


SOME  OF  THE  WORK  IN  LONDON    105 

to  be  escorted  to  Hospitals  far  away,  and  they 
have  shown  themselves  to  be  men  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  word.  But  the  exceedingly  clever  lit- 
tle Hospital  Magazine,  which  is  issued  monthly, 
proves  that  they  have  not  forgotten  how  to  wield 
pen  and  brush,  for  between  its  pages  one  finds 
some  little  gems  of  art,  executed  by  Private  This 
or  Corporal  That  in  his  spare  time. 

The  war  has  turned  the  world  topsy-turvy. 
Who  would  have  expected  to  find  an  A.R.A.  or  a 
R.B.A.  setting  up  beds  in  a  hut  ward  or  under- 
taking the  thousand  and  one  odd  jobs  which  fall 
to  the  lot  of  a  Hospital  orderly? 


CHAPTER  XI 
Am  Eaid  and  Other  Duties 

ALTHOUGH  happily  the  damage  done  by 
^  Zeppelin  bombs  has  been  slight  in  compari- 
son with  the  effort  made  by  the  Germans,  very 
full  arrangements  have  had  to  be  made  to  cope 
with  any  possible  emergency.  Great  credit  is  due 
to  the  V.A.D.  members,  men  and  women,  who 
undertake  to  be  always  ready  to  attend  to  acci- 
dents during  an  air  raid.  It  is  not  an  exhilarat- 
ing affair  to  be  called  out  at  eleven  o'clock  at 
night  perhaps,  to  have  to  walk  a  mile  or  two  to  a 
central  position,  and  to  sit  in  a  spot  which  is  often 
not  too  warm,  until  the  small  hours  of  the  morn- 
ing, when  the  walk  home  has  to  be  made  through 
the  pitch-dark  streets. 

On  more  than  one  occasion  an  exceedingly  well- 
known  woman  of  position,  who  has  undertaken 
this  duty  as  a  V.A.D.  member,  has  stopped  at  a 
coffee  stall,  and  has  been  thankful  to  buy  a  hot 
drink  to  cheer  her  on  her  homeward  way.  I  think 
the  keeper  of  the  coffee  stall  would  have  been  a 
little  surprised  if  he  had  known  the  identity  of 
his  customer,  but  it  is  only  a  typical  case  of  doz- 
ens of  others,  for  many  highly  cultured  men  and 

106 


AIR  EAID  AND  OTHER  DUTIES     107 

women,  holding  important  positions  during  the 
day,  have  offered  themselves  for  this  particular 
night  duty,  because  they  can  do  that  without  in- 
terfering with  their  regular  daily  work,  which  in 
many  cases  is  of  supreme  importance  to  the  nation. 

The  arrangements  made,  under  the  police,  by 
each  great  city  for  calling  up  help  in  the  event 
of  air  raids  are  extraordinarily  complete.  Usu- 
ally, the  authorities  know  a  few  hours  before  a 
Zeppelin  is  likely  to  attack  a  city,  and  a  carefully 
worded  warning  is  sent  forth  to  all  the  Ambulance 
people  who  must  go  on  duty.  They  know  exactly 
-where  they  are  to  go,  and  most  of  them  have 
** Zeppelin  bags,"  as  they  call  them,  packed  ready 
with  every  kind  of  dressing,  and  with  gas  masks, 
which  they  can  pick  up  and  take  wi<;h  them  at  a 
moment's  notice. 

I  was  delighted  to  see  such  a  bag  was  hung  on 
a  special  peg  in  the  hall  of  a  house  of  a  V.A.D. 
member  in  one  of  the  great  Midland  cities;  she 
explained  laughingly,  **I  always  put  my  clothes 
ready  so  that  I  can  get  into  them  very  quickly, 
and  then  as  I  fly  out  at  the  front  door  I  pick  up 
my  Zeppelin  bag,  and  am  ready  for  anything  that 
may  happen." 

Some  Sad  Cases. 

If  the  Huns  can  find  any  satisfaction  in  know- 
ing that  they  are  killing  old  men  and  women,  and 
little  children,  let  them  read  the  following  story : 


108  BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

In  a  certain  suburb  outside  London,  which  has 
rows  and  rows  of  little  houses  occupied  almost 
entirely  by  the  poorer  working  classes,  there  lived 
an  old  couple  who  had  worked  all  the  days  of  their 
lives,  and  were  eking  out  their  narrow  means  as 
best  they  could,  for  they  were  both  feeble  and  long 
past  work. 

A  bomb  fell  on  the  house  and  set  it  on  fire,  and 
these  two  inoffensive  old  people  were  burned  to 
death  before  they  could  be  rescued.  The  place 
burned  like  a  match-box,  and  although  the  Ambu- 
lance men  and  the  firemen  made  some  gallant 
attempts  to  get  up  the  ladders  to  the  window 
of  the  bedroom,  they  were  beaten  back  by  the 
flames. 

One  of  the  V.A.D.  men  who  was  on  the  scene 
described  it  bluntly,  and  without  the  least  thought 
that  he  had  played  the  part  of  a  hero.  After  he 
had  tried  to  get  up  the  ladder  to  the  old  couple, 
he  turned  his  attention  to  a  mother  and  daughter 
who  had  been  seriously  hurt  about  the  face  and 
head. 

A  little  later  on,  a  man  rushed  into  the  Police 
Station  and  announced  that  he  was  the  caretaker 
of  a  certain  Mission  Hall,  and  that  a  bomb  had 
come  through  the  roof  but  had  not  exploded.  He 
begged  that  somebody  should  go  over  and  take  it 
away,  and  of  course  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  an  Am- 
bulance man  to  do  this.  He  was  perfectly  calm 
about  it,  and  even  joked  over  it.    He  went  in. 


AIR  RAID  AND  OTHER  DUTIES     109 

picked  the  bomb  up,  and  carried  it  away  in  his 
hand  to  a  place  of  safety. 

A  pathetic  incident  happened  in  connection  with 
one  of  the  air  raids.  A  man  who  had  been  devoted 
to  St.  John  Ambulance  work  for  a  great  many 
years,  and  had  undertaken  air  raid  duty  many 
times,  was  taken  seriously  ill,  and  actually  died 
at  the  moment  when  the  police  arrived  at  his 
house  to  tell  him  to  go  on  duty.  It  was  quite 
appropriate  that  it  should  happen,  in  a  sense,  be- 
cause he  was  a  man  who  had  always  put  duty 
first;  and  certainly  nothing  but  very  serious  ill- 
ness would  have  prevented  him  from  going  out  to 
the  succour  of  his  fellow-beings. 

He  was  a  workingman,  who  had  given  up  every 
one  of  his  Bank  Holidays  for  nearly  twenty  years 
past  to  go  on  to  one  of  the  great  open  spaces  in 
London  to  attend  to  the  accidents  which  always 
occur  on  these  holidays.  He  was  a  big,  large- 
hearted,  cheery  man,  from  whom  one  never  heard 
a  grumble  or  a  disagreeable  word  however  hot  the 
day  or  arduous  the  work. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  work  with  him  on  a 
great  many  occasions,  and  it  always  touched  me 
deeply  to  see  him  attending  to  the  children,  for  he 
had  the  smile  and  the  winning  ways  that  instantly 
comfort  the  little  ones  when  they  come  to  grief. 

"When  I  heard  about  his  sudden  death,  and  how 
the  police  had  wanted  his  aid  at  that  very  moment, 
it  seemed  to  me  absolutely  typical  of  the  man,  and 


110  BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

he  in  his  turn  is  typical  of  hundreds  of  members 
of  V.A.  Detachments. 

The  man  who  tries  to  mount  the  ladder  set 
against  a  burning  house,  or  rides  down  the  high- 
road with  shrapnel  falling  about  him,  is  surely  as 
much  a  hero  as  he  who  gives  succour  to  the 
wounded  on  the  battle-field. 

How  the  Members  Are  Called  to  Duty, 

Perhaps  it  would  be  interesting  to  show  exactly 
how  the  members  are  called  up  for  **air  raid 
duty.'*  We  will  take,  for  instance,  an  outlying 
district  of  London,  where  there  is  a  permanent 
Ambulance  Station  open  day  and  night  for  any 
accident  which  may  occur  on  the  busy  thorough- 
fares near-by. 

To  the  men  on  duty  there  at  night  the  news  of 
an  air  raid  comes  from  the  Fire  Brigade  Head- 
quarters. The  Ambulance  man  on  duty  immedi- 
ately rings  up  six  or  seven  cyclists  who  live  near, 
and  within  a  few  minutes  they  arrive  and  take 
away  little  packets  of  cards  which  are  ready  pre- 
pared for  them.  On  the  cards  is  written  the  name 
of  the  station  to  which  the  Ambulance  man  is  to 

go. 

The  cyclist  runs  round,  knocks  at  the  door  of 
each  Ambulance  man,  and  pushes  the  card  into 
the  letter-box,  so  that  when  the  man  comes  down 
he  takes  the  card  and  sees  exactly  where  he  is  to 
be  stationed.    This  method  saves  the  time  of  the 


AIR  RAID  AND  OTHER  DUTIES     111 

cyclist,  who  does  not  have  to  wait  to  deliver  a 
message. 

The  public  library  in  this  district  has  been 
turned  into  an  emergency  Hospital  with  twenty- 
six  beds,  and  altogether  there  are  a  hundred  beds 
available  in  the  neighbourhood;  whilst  there  are 
nine  regular  stations  in  the  district  where  men 
and  nurses  are  on  duty. 

In  the  event  of  a  fire,  two  Ambulance  officers 
always  go  with  the  motor  engine,  carrying  First 
Aid  equipment  with  them;  and  following  quickly 
upon  their  heels  there  goes  an  emergency  gang  of 
men,  carrying  picks  and  shovels  to  effect  rescues 
if  necessary. 

The  duty  of  Ambulance  men  and  women  on  the 
East  Coast  of  England  has  been  arduous  in  the 
extreme,  for  they  have  never  been  able  to  relax 
for  one  moment  from  the  chance  of  having  to 
attend  to  victims  of  air  raids  or  bombardment. 

At  all  the  towns  on  the  East  Coast  there  is  an 
understanding  between  the  authorities  and  the 
members  of  the  Detachments  as  to  the  post  they 
are  to  occupy  directly  they  are  called  up.  They 
turn  out  with  their  equipment  and  form  dressing 
stations,  and  provide  temporary  Hospitals  for  the 
civilian  population. 

In  addition  to  this  work,  they  meet  all  trains 
and  convoys  of  wounded,  and  help  to  unload  them 
and  transport  them  to  the  various  Hospitals  to 
which  they  are  allotted. 


112  BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

V,A,D.  Roll  of  Honour. 

As  the  years  of  war  increase,  so  our  Roll  of 
Honour  lengthens.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  give 
a  complete  list  of  the  V.A.D.  men  and  women  who 
have  given  their  lives  in  the  course  of  performing 
their  duty ;  but  I  should  like  to  touch  upon  a  few 
cases,  in  order  to  show  the  general  public  some- 
thing of  the  sacrifices  that  are  being  made,  not 
once  or  twice,  but  constantly,  in  the  ranks  of 
V.A.D.  workers. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  very  early  in  the 
war  a  Hospital  ship  went  down,  and  a  number 
of  R.A.M.C.  men  were  lost.  Practically  the  whole 
of  those  men  were  Red  Cross  Volunteers. 

Then  we  lost  men  during  the  sinking  of  H.M.S. 
Cressy ;  whilst  there  have  been  only  too  many  Red 
Cross  members  and  V.A.D.  men  and  women  who 
have  contracted  dysentery  or  typhoid  abroad,  and 
have  died. 

One  St.  John  man,  who  was  employed  in  one  of 
H.  M.  Dockyards,  was  instructed  to  join  a  ship, 
which  foundered  four  days  after  his  mobilisation. 
Of  him,  his  superior  officer  writes,  **I  always 
found  him  a  most  efficient  and  painstaking  officer, 
and  I  know  his  death  was  heard  of  with  great 
regret  in  this  neighbourhood." 

In  August,  1916,  it  will  be  remembered  that  a 
troop  ship  was  torpedoed  on  her  way  from  Alex- 
andria to  the  Dardanelles.    When  she  foundered 


AIR  RAID  AND  OTHER  DUTIES     113 

1,000  lives  were  lost  and  600  saved.  One  Unit  of 
the  R.A.M.C.,  which  was  going  out  as  a  Casualty- 
Clearing  Station  and  was  almost  entirely  made  up 
of  men  from  one  part  of  England,  was  very  hard 
hit.  It  lost  two  officers  and  fifty-five  men  out  of  a 
strength  of  eight  officers  and  seventy-seven  men. 
The  officer  in  charge  in  England  writes  thus: 
*  *  This  fine  Unit,  which  was  thoroughly  well  organ- 
ized and  equipped,  was  principally  composed  of 
trained  members  from  the  St.  John  Ambulance 
Brigade  in  .  .  .  Amongst  those  lost  were  a  ser- 
geant and  five  privates  from  the  .  .  .  Division, 
all  well-known  Ambulance  men  and  highly  thought 
of  in  civil  life,  so  much  so  that  a  memorial  serv- 
ice was  held  in  the  town  on  receipt  of  the  sad 


Quick  Work, 

One  might  easily  fill  a  book  with  stories  of  quick 
work  accomplished  by  members  of  V.A.  Detach- 
ments ;  but  I  will  give  a  few  instances  just  to  show 
the  kind  of  thing  that  is  happening  every  day 
amongst  the  members. 

Suddenly  six  men  were  wanted  as  stretcher- 
bearers  for  France.  The  authorities  telephoned 
through  to  one  of  the  Red  Cross  centres  in  London, 
and  the  officer  there,  knowing  that  a  drill  was 
taking  place  in  Regent's  Park,  sent  a  messenger 
off  in  a  taxi  with  the  very  simple  object  of  taking 
six  men  away  from  the  drill  and  sending  them 


114  BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

across  to  France.  This  was  done,  and  in  the  space 
of  one  hour  from  the  moment  that  the  telephone 
call  was  received  the  men  presented  themselves 
for  duty,  and  crossed  the  Channel  that  same  eve- 
ning. A  V.A.D.  member  must,  indeed,  be  ready- 
to  go  anywhere  and  do  anything  at  a  moment's 
notice. 

Another  time  a  telephone  call  came  to  a  Red 
Cross  office  from  a  Hospital,  saying  that  one  of 
the  patients  had  become  seriously  delirious  and 
must  have  a  special  attendant.  The  staff  of  the 
Hospital  was  already  overworked,  and  they 
wanted  a  man  sent  down  immediately.  Within 
half  an  hour  from  the  time  the  telephone  call  came 
in  a  Red  Cross  member  was  by  the  bed  of  the 
delirious  man. 

In  the  very  early  days  of  the  war  a  party  of 
Red  Cross  orderlies  was  sent  to  one  of  the  big 
French  towns.  It  was  during  the  terrible  retreat 
from  Mons,  and  fearing  that  possibly  the  Germans 
would  get  into  the  town,  the  French  people  had 
blown  up  the  bridges  all  round.  It  was  necessary 
for  the  orderlies  to  get  into  the  town,  and  so  they 
improvised  a  bridge  of  planks  and  crawled  across 
the  river  with  imminent  peril  to  their  lives. 

Members  of  Red  Cross  Units  have  worked  in 
Hospitals  in  Italy,  in  Petrograd,  in  Salonica, 
Malta,  Cairo,  Servia,  Luxor,  Alexandria,  Monte- 
negro, Palermo,  Corfu,  and  in  many  other  foreign 
countries. 


AIR  RAID  AND  OTHER  DUTIES     115 

When  there  was  a  sudden  and  serious  outbreak 
of  typhoid  amongst  the  French  patients  in  a  cer- 
tain French  town,  there  came  an  urgent  appeal 
for  ten  V.A.D.  Englishwomen  to  nurse  them.  In 
a  couple  of  days  that  little  band  of  nurses  was 
hard  at  work  amongst  the  typhoid  patients  in  a 
town  situated  in  the  heart  of  France. 

Some  of  the  noblest  work,  because  of  its  lowly 
character,  is  done  by  V.A.D.  men  and  women,  who 
are  at  strenuous  work  all  day,  but  give  up  a  part 
of  their  nights  to  go  into  Hospitals  for  the  pur- 
pose of  cleaning  utensils  which  have  to  be  kept 
bright.  The  overworked  staff  of  a  Hospital  very 
often  finds  that  it  is  the  **last  straw"  to  have  to 
keep  all  the  pots  and  pans  and  the  brass  fittings 
as  bright  as  they  should  be  kept  in  a  well-managed 
Hospital. 

It  occurred  to  some  V.A.  members,  who  could 
not  possibly  give  time  in  the  day,  that  this  par- 
ticular kind  of  work  could  be  quite  easily  done  at 
night,  far  away  in  the  kitchens  whilst  the  patients 
were  asleep;  and  in  hundreds  of  cases  men  and 
women  have  given  up  a  portion  of  their  night's 
rest  in  order  to  go  and  do  this  lowly  task. 

On  the  same  high  level  there  comes  the  work 
of  two  girls  who  earn  their  own  living  in  a  West 
End  shop.  They  have  to  be  at  the  counter  at 
8.45,  and  since  they  live  in  a  northern  suburb  of 
London,  they  have  to  spend  a  good  bit  of  time  in 
the  daily  journey.    They  discovered  that  a  West 


116  BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

End  Hospital  was  greatly  in  need  of  help  in  the 
early  morning  hours,  and  they  offered  to  go  and 
cook  the  breakfasts  for  the  patients  and  the  staff. 
They  rose  at  five  o'clock  every  morning  and 
went  direct  to  the  Hospital,  where  they  showed 
themselves  to  be  excellent  cooks  and  steady  work- 
ers. By  eight  o'clock  they  had  been  able  to  tidy 
up  after  the  meal  was  finished,  and  they  then  went 
on  to  their  work.  This  wonderful  bit  of  **duty" 
is  still  going  on,  and  is  only  an  example  of  what 
many  women  are  doing  in  different  districts. 

Pillows  for  the  Wounded. 

There  came  a  requisition  suddenly  to  the  St. 
John  warehouse  that  a  large  number  of  pillows 
should  be  sent  down  to  Charing  Cross  Station  to 
go  off  by  a  certain  train.  Suitable  pillows  had 
to  be  sorted  out  and  packed,  but  well  within  the 
hour  a  messenger  arrived  at  Charing  Cross  with 
the  pillows  and  put  them  on  the  train. 

Turning  a  Convent  School  into  a  Hospital. 

A  fine  piece  of  rapid  work  was  carried  through 
by  a  Sussex  British  Red  Cross  Detachment.  Part 
of  a  girls'  Convent  School  had  been  offered  as  a 
Hospital,  and  on  a  certain  Saturday  evening  in 
the  early  months  of  the  war  a  call  came  from  the 
Military  authorities  for  accommodation  for  some 
thirty  or  forty  wounded. 

The  Commandant  of  the  Detachment  called  to- 


AIR  RAID  AND  OTHER  DUTIES     117 

gether  her  members,  and  they  all  set  to  work.  The 
children  who  were  at  school  in  the  Convent  were 
put  into  one-half  of  the  building,  which  was  di- 
vided off  by  boards;  but  in  their  half  were  the 
kitchen  and  many  of  the  necessary  offices. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  the  V.A.  members  had 
to  induce  gasfitters  and  plumbers  to  set  to  work 
at  once  to  convert  a  class-room  into  a  kitchen,  and 
a  conservatory  into  a  scullery.  One  room  on  the 
ground  floor  was  turned  into  an  admirable  little 
operating  theatre  fitted  with  up-to-date  equipment, 
all  of  which  was  lent.  Beds,  of  course,  had  to  be 
set  up  in  all  the  rooms,  and  cupboards  were  hastily 
improvised  until  lockers  could  be  obtained. 

The  Commandant  had  been  warned  that  the 
patients  (Belgians)  would  probably  arrive  in  a 
sorely  dirty  condition,  and  she  was  determined  to 
run  no  risk  of  having  her  newly  cleaned  Hospital 
soiled.  A  tent  therefore  was  borrowed  and  set 
up  in  the  grounds  quite  close  to  the  front  door, 
and  this  was  warmed  and  made  comfortable.  Here 
the  volunteer  orderlies  undressed  the  wounded 
men,  washed  them  as  far  as  possible,  then  wrap- 
ping them  in  warm  blankets  carried  them  into  the 
Hospital  and  put  them  to  bed. 

Since  that  day  there  has  seldom  been  an  empty 
bed  in  the  Hospital,  for  the  Inspecting  General 
declares  it  to  be  on  a  level  with  the  best  of  all 
those  in  his  district. 


CHAPTER  Xn 
V.A.D.  WoEK  IN  Ibeland 

IRELAND  has  not  been  behindhand  in  the  mat- 
ter of  V.A.D.  work,  for  long  before  the  war 
broke  out  there  were  several  St.  John  and  B.R.C.S. 
Detachments  scattered  throughout  the  island. 
Under  the  energetic  leadership  of  Dr.  J.  Lumsden, 
Director-in-Chief  of  the  B.R.C.S.  and  St.  John  Am- 
bulance in  Ireland,  a  very  large  amount  of  good 
work  has  been  done,  both  by  men  and  women  mem- 
bers of  V.A.  Detachments. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Dublin  there  have  been 
six  Auxiliary  Military  Hospitals  established 
largely  by  voluntary  efforts.  Dublin  Castle,  the 
first  to  be  equipped,  is  a  very  fine  place,  and  of 
course  Dublin  University  makes  a  magnificent 
Hospital.  Then  there  are  the  Princess  Patricia 
Hospital  at  Bray;  Monktown  Hospital;  Temple 
Hill  Hospital,  Black  Rock;  and  Glenmaroon, 
Chapel  Izod. 

Dublin  Castle  Hospital  has  been  entirely  run  by 
the  City  of  Dublin  Branch  of  the  British  Red  Cross 
Society;  but  the  other  five  have  been  staffed 

na 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  IRELAND  119 

jointly  by  St.  John  and  B.R.C.S.  members;  and 
it  is  delightful  to  know  that  this  intermingling  of 
the  two  societies  has  been  entirely  successful. 

The  more  the  members  work  together  the  bet- 
ter must  be  the  result,  for  now  that  we  have  a 
Joint  Committee  of  representative  men  from  the 
two  Societies,  every  effort  should  be  made  to  bring 
the  members  together  in  their  work.  Ireland 
seems  to  have  done  this  particularly  well,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact  the  Territorial  Force  Association 
members  work  in  with  the  other  two  Societies 
without  any  kind  of  friction. 

It  was  arranged  that  all  the  Units  when  mo- 
bilised should  come  under  the  control  of  the  Joint 
V.A.D.  Committee  for  Ireland.  It  was  not  in- 
tended in  any  way  to  interfere  with  the  old  ma- 
chinery of  either  of  the  Societies,  but  that  when 
mobilisation  took  place  the  Joint  V.A.D.  Com- 
mittee should  be  in  supreme  command. 

Once  again  let  me  say  that  I  am  giving  promi- 
nence to  the  work  in  and  around  Dublin  simply 
as  being  the  centre  and  heart  of  Ireland,  as  it  were, 
and  therefore  suggestive  of  what  is  going  on  in 
many  parts  of  the  island. 

It  is  hoped  that  before  long  a  ** limbless''  Hos- 
pital will  be  established  at  Bray.  It  will  be  run 
on  the  same  lines  as  the  one  at  Roehampton,  Lon- 
don, where  such  marvellous  things  have  been  done 
in  supplying  artificial  limbs  to  men  who  have  lost 
their  arms  and  legs. 


120  BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Male  V,A.  Detachments  in  Ireland. 

There  are  quite  a  number  of  these,  and  the  mem- 
bers have  distinguished  themselves  by  their  very- 
excellent  service,  especially  during  the  Sinn  Fein 
Riots,  about  which  I  shall  have  a  good  deal  to  say 
later  on. 

Directly  war  was  declared,  about  five  hundred 
St.  John  members  (male)  were  mobilised  for  Mili- 
tary Home  Hospitals  and  Sick  Berth  Reserves. 
Upwards  of  three  hundred  Nursing  Sisters  volun- 
teered for  service  in  Military  Hospitals  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  a  large  number  of  women  volun- 
teered for  special  service  as  clerks,  cooks,  and 
dispensers. 

Sick  Soldiers  on  Furlough. 

The  Nursing  Sisters  of  V.A.  Detachments  in 
Ireland  have  been  doing  some  excellent  work  in 
visiting  sick  soldiers  on  furlough.  Very  often  a 
man  obtains  permission  to  go  to  his  home  whilst 
he  is  still  more  or  less  ill,  and  it  has  meant  a  great 
deal  to  these  men  to  be  able  to  have  the  attention 
of  a  nurse. 

Docks  and  Railway  Termini  Work. 

Great  assistance  has  been  rendered  to  the  Re- 
ception Committee  at  the  Docks  and  railway  ter- 
mini by  V.A.D.  members. 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  IRELAND  121 

Massage. 

Massage,  electrical,  and  radiant  heat  treatment 
have  been  given  to  a  very  large  number  of  men 
by  Miss  Poole  and  her  many  skilled  and  willing 
helpers. 

Worh  Parties. 

Throughout  Ireland  there  have  been  instituted 
working  parties  where  Hospital  comforts  are 
made.  The  Irish  War  Hospital  Supply  Depots 
have  done  particularly  good  work  throughout 
the  country.  They  were  inaugurated  by  the 
Marchioness  of  Waterford,  who  has  given  a  great 
amount  of  time  to  the  work  with  admirable  results. 
She  has  1,200  members  on  her  books,  and  an 
average  attendance  of  120  a  day.  This  alone 
shows  the  enormous  amount  of  work  which  is 
turned  out.  For  instance,  148  bales  were  dis- 
patched between  December  and  April  of  last  year. 

Hospital  Ships  in  the  Liffey. 

To  the  many  Hospital  ships  which  came  into 
the  Liffey,  much  assistance  has  been  given 
by  the  200  trained  stretcher-bearers  who  offered 
their  services.  They  assisted  the  Military  and  the 
Irish  Automobile  Club  members  in  convoying  the 
wounded  from  the  Hospital  ships  to  the  various 
city  Hospitals.  These  stretcher  parties  were  made 
up  of  St.  John  and  B.R.C.S.  members,  and  have 


122    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

merited  the  praise  which  has  been  showered  upon 
them  because  of  their  prompt  and  careful  move- 
ment of  injured  men. 

Joint  Clothing  Depot. 

Over  one  hundred  thousand  have  been  dis- 
patched to  the  Front  by  the  Joint  Clothing  Depot, 
which  has  been  run  by  the  County  Dublin  Branch 
B.R.C.S.  and  St.  John.  A  very  large  party  of 
ladies  have  ungrudgingly  given  their  time  day 
after  day  to  this  work. 

Spagnum  Moss  Industry, 

In  cannection  with  this  a  new  departure  has 
been  made  —  antisepticising  the  Spagnum  Moss 
after  it  has  been  put  into  bags.  The  bags  are 
soaked  in  corrosive  sublimate,  which  is  then 
squeezed  out  by  passing  the  bag  through  a  man- 
gle. The  Spagnum  Moss  is  then  hung  up  to  dry 
for  two  days. 

Voluntary  Stamp  Saving  Service, 

A  band  of  young  ladies  undertook  to  deliver  let- 
ters and  circulars  in  and  about  Dublin  for  all  war 
Societies  and  so  save  stamps. 

Irish  V,A.D,  Motorist  on  German  Soil, 

Some  members  of  the  Irish  V.A.  Detachments 
(male)  volunteered  to  go  out  with  Motor  Ambu- 
lances to  assist  the  French  Army,  and  they  have 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  lEELAND  123 

done  a  marvellously  good  work.  So  far  the  Allies 
cannot  claim  to  be  running  over  much  German 
ground,  but  here  is  an  Irish  V.A.D.  member  who 
has  been  driving  his  Motor  Ambulance  backwards 
and  forwards  over  German  soil  for  many  months. 

Writing  home  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Al- 
sace, he  explained  that  he  had  just  been  moved 
from  one  part  of  France  to  another.  **The  Gen- 
eral shook  hands  with  us  all  round  before  we 
started,  and  a  band  played  us  off.    We  remained 

at  E about  ten  days,  and  then  came  on  to 

our  present  Headquarters,  which  are  four  miles 
from  the  Alsacian  frontier,  and  twenty  miles  be- 
hind the  firing  line. 

*  *  The  work  here  is  quite  different  from  what  we 

have  been  accustomed  to  at  C We  have 

been  frightfully  busy,  and  for  ten  days  none  of 
us  had  our  clothes  off,  and  the  only  sleep  we  had 
was  in  our  clothes  and  in  a  barn.  The  work  is 
made  very  difficult  owing  to  the  mountainous  na- 
ture of  the  country,  and  the  fact  that  the  roads 
are  nearly  always  covered  with  deep  snow  and  ice. 

^*  We  had  three  main  spheres  of  operation;  evac- 
uating the  wounded  from  the  firing  line  to  a  Clear- 
ing Station,  work  between  the  Clearing  Station 
and  four  Hospitals  in  the  valley  behind  the 
trenches,  and  evacuating  from  these  Hospitals 
over  the  pass  across  the  Frontier.  The  worst  part 
of  our  work  is  between  the  firing  line  and  the 
Clearing  Station. 


124    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

**The  wounded  are  carried  on  mules  to  the 
Dressing  Station  on  the  top  of  a  plateau,  and  from 
there  we  take  them  down  the  mountain  to  the 
valley.  The  road  is  so  steep  in  places  that  if  a 
car  has  to  stop  it  cannot  start  again  without  help, 
and  it  is  so  narrow  that  cars  can  only  pass  in 
certain  parts. 

**The  whole  road  is  often  under  fire;  but  about 
three  hundred  yards  of  it  are  absolutely  wrecked 
by  shell  fire,  and  three  days  ago  the  two  sheds  on 
the  top  were  blown  to  bits.  The  valley  is  also 
bombarded  nearly  every  day,  and  last  week  we 
had  four  bombardments  and  an  air  raid  in  one 
day.  Several  of  our  cars  have  been  hit,  but  so 
far  none  of  us  has  been  hurt. 

*^We  have  to  do  a  great  deal  of  work  at  night  as 
well  as  all  day.  We  all  wear  steel  shrapnel  hel- 
mets here,  and  carry  respirators,  so  you  can  im- 
agine something  of  what  our  conditions  are.  You 
will  be  glad  to  hear  that  the  car  is  going  well,  and 
has  been  on  German  soil  for  three  weeks." 

With  regard  to  what  men  members  are  doing, 
it  is  specially  interesting  to  know  that  those  who 
cannot  undertake  orderly  or  such  work  are  help- 
ing at  the  Irish  War  Hospital  Supply  Depot. 

In  February,  1916,  the  Men's  Section  was 
formed  for  the  manufacture  of  splints  of  all  pat- 
terns, bed  rests,  bed  tables,  crutches,  etc.  A  big 
building  at  the  rear  of  40  Merrion  Square  was 
fitted  up  as  a  huge  workshop,  and  very  soon  many 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  IRELAND  125 

expert  amateur  carpenters  joined  the  ranks  of 
workers,  whilst  others  less  experienced  were  con- 
tent to  act  as  ** labourers." 

Consignments  were  sent  to  Mesopotamia,  Sa- 
lonica,  and  to  the  Expeditionary  Force  in  France, 
and  in  response  to  urgent  appeals  all  sorts  of 
Hospital  comforts  and  necessities  were  dispatched 
to  the  Verdun  front,  and  to  other  Hospitals  work- 
ing under  the  Croix  Rouge.  Gifts  of  timber  and 
other  necessary  materials  have  been  received  from 
kind  donors. 

In  April  of  1916,  a  Metal  Splint  Department 
was  started  with  great  success.  Splints  are  made 
after  consultation  with  leading  surgeons  of  H.M. 
Forces,  some  thirty  voluntary  workers  giving 
their  services  every  afternoon  or  evening. 

Nearly  half  the  material  employed  is  waste 
metal,  the  clippings  or  remnants  from  sheet  metal 
which  are  thrown  out  from  large  manufacturing 
shops  being  utilised.  Much  material  hitherto  al- 
most worthless  has  been  pressed  into  use. 

The  damaged  wings,  mud-guards,  and  panels 
of  motor  cars,  when  cut  up  by  powerful  shears 
and  beaten  into  shape  by  willing  hands,  come  to 
form  cup-like  supports  for  fractured  limbs.  The 
worn-out  cauldron,  bath,  or  galvanised  tank  is  still 
capable  of  being  converted  into  valuable  surgical 
apparatus. 

Combinations  of  work  are  called  for,  inviting 
the  united  abilities  of  many  trades,  and  there  is  no 


126    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

man  who  is  skilled  in  any  direction  who  cannot 
find  useful  scope  for  it  in  this  magnificent  work. 

Metal  splints  are  flexible  and  therefore  permit 
the  surgeon  to  bend  them  so  that  they  will  exactly 
fit  the  injured  limb.  The  metal  is  also  very  light, 
which  gives  it  an  additional  value  over  wood,  and 
it  is  easily  cleaned  and  disinfected. 

Here  is  another  branch  of  V.A.D.  work  which 
is  almost  exclusively  performed  by  men,  and  it 
would  be  well  if  more  Hospital  Supply  Depots 
started  a  Men's  Section  of  this  kind. 

In  the  Central  Depot  (Dublin)  there  are  about 
thirteen  hundred  enrolled  workers.  Then  there 
are  a  hundred  affiliated  sub-depots  throughout 
Ireland.  All  the  work  is  done  with  the  greatest 
economy,  the  expenses  being  carefully  watched. 

In  several  instances  luncheon  and  tea  rooms  for 
the  worker  have  become  channels  for  profit,  these 
rooms  being  managed  so  well  that  they  make  a 
surplus  which  can  go  towards  paying  for  the  light- 
ing and  heating  of  the  premises.  Each  worker, 
though  a  volunteer,  not  only  pays  for  meals  sup- 
plied, but  also  pays  for  the  privilege  of  being  a 
worker. 

In  the  Surgical  Dressing  Depot  the  scraps  and 
clippings  of  materials  are  made  into  pads,  swabs, 
cushions,  etc.,  and  in  the  Men's  Section  no  odd 
piece  of  metal  is  allowed  to  be  thrown  away. 

Ireland  indeed  may  well  be  congratulated  uppn 
her  voluntary  war  work. 


CHAPTER  Xm 
V.A.D.  Work  in  the  Sinn  Fein  Riots 

THE  Sinn  Fein  Riots  gave  a  sad  but  unique 
opportunity  to  Ambulance  and  Red  Cross 
workers  in  Ireland  of  showing  how  they  could 
cope  with  an  emergency.  The  mischief,  it  is  true, 
had  been  brewing  for  a  long  while,  but  few  people 
realised  that  it  could  ever  come  to  anything  seri- 
ous, and  practically  all  the  work  that  was  done 
for  the  wounded  was  arranged  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment. 

Of  all  the  magnificent  pieces  of  work  carried 
out  by  V.A.  members  during  this  devastating  war, 
there  has  been  nothing  to  surpass  that  which  was 
accomplished  in  Dublin  during  those  awful  days 
when  the  rioters  let  loose  their  violence  upon  the 
city  and  its  inhabitants. 

From  St.  Patrick's  Day,  Friday,  March  17th, 
1916,  up  to  Easter  Monday,  April  24th,  the  fire 
smouldered,  with  flashes  of  flame  here  and  there, 
which  gave  an  indication  of  what  might  be  ex- 
pected when  the  general  outbreak  occurred.  On 
Easter  Monday  at  noon  the  storm  burst  in  Dublin, 
and  for  the  following  six  days  the  city  and  suburbs 
were  the  scene  of  grave  loss  of  life  and  destruction 
of  property. 

127 


128    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Dr.  Lumsden  issued  a  detailed  report  of  the 
work  done  by  Ambulance  and  Red  Cross  workers 
during  the  rebellion.  The  members,  he  said,  lost 
no  opportunity  of  rendering  First  Aid  to  soldiers, 
civilians  and  rebels  alike.  The  general  efficiency 
of  the  various  Detachments  was  fiercely  tested  and 
not  found  wanting.  Members  performed  duty  in 
all  the  zones  where  fighting  took  place,  and  it  is 
sad  to  say  that  some  of  them  were  killed  and  in- 
jured in  the  course  of  their  work. 

The  wounded  were  collected  by  men  and  nurses, 
who  went  on  foot  and  in  Ambulance  wagons,  ren- 
dering First  Aid  and  taking  patients  to  Hospital 
under  circumstances  of  great  danger  and  diffi- 
culty. 

The  first  move  towards  the  organization  of  First 
Aid  work  in  the  rebellion  was  made  by  the  late 
Corps  Superintendent  Holden  Stodart,  who  on 
Easter  Monday  telephoned  to  the  Military  offer- 
ing help.  Two  days  later  this  heroic  officer  was 
killed,  and  his  death  made  an  impression  through- 
out the  Red  Cross  workers  in  Ireland  which  will 
not  fade. 

Mr.  Stodart,  who  was  only  thirty-three,  was 
one  of  the  strongest  supporters  of  the  St.  John 
Ambulance  Brigade  in  Dublin,  and  since  the  out- 
break of  the  war  had  rendered  valuable  service  as 
a  Superintendent  of  the  Brigade.  To  the  work  he 
devoted  himself  with  the  whole-hearted  enthusi- 
asm that  characterised  everything  he  did. 


Lady     Superintendent-in-Chief's 
indoor  uniform. 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  SINN  FEIN  EIOTS  129 
When  the  rebellion  broke  out  in  Dublin  he  was 
the  senior  St.  John  Ambulance  officer  then  in  the 
city,  and  the  Military  authorities  were  only  too 
thankful  to  accept  the  help  which  he  offered.  His 
was  an  arduous  task,  for  he  organised  bodies  of 
Ambulance  workers  to  take  duty  at  the  various 
Hospitals.  Despite  obstacles  that  might  have 
seemed  insurmountable  to  another  man,  he  gath- 
ered his  forces  and  placed  them  where  their  serv- 
ices were  most  needed.  Once  the  organisation 
was  complete,  he  settled  down  to  carry  on  his  own 
work  under  his  superior  officer,  who  had  by  then 
arrived  on  the  spot. 

The  St.  John  Ambulance  Brigade  since  the  re- 
bellion has  awarded  medals  and  certificates  to  a 
number  of  the  officers  who  distinguished  them- 
selves in  the  work  of  the  riots,  but  at  present  the 
Chapter-General  of  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jeru- 
salem has  no  power  to  award  posthumous  honours. 
In  the  report  which  was  issued  of  the  work,  it  is 
well  said  that  those  who  knew  Mr.  Stodart  best 
are  content  to  think  that 

"  Better  than  martial  woe,  or  the  burden  of  civic  sorrow. 
Better  than  praise  to-day,  or  the  statue  we  build  to-morrow. 
Better  than  honour  and  glory,  from  history's  iron  pen. 
Is  the  thought  of  duty  done,  and  the  love  of  fellow  men." 

The  War  Office  has  decided  to  place  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  Red  Cross  and  St.  John  Ambulance 
Brigade  working  during  the  riots  in  the  same  po- 
sition with  regard  to  pensions  and  compassionate 


130   BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

allowances  as  the  equivalent  ranks  in  the  Army, 
and  in  pursuance  of  this  liberal  policy  the  widow 
and  child  of  Mr.  H.  Stodart  have  been  granted  the 
pension  and  allowance  of  a  Lieutenant  killed  in 
action. 

It  was  whilst  Mr.  Stodart  was  proceeding  with 
a  stretcher  party  to  the  relief  of  a  wounded  sol- 
dier that  he  was  shot,  and  instantaneously  died. 
His  heroic  death  and  noble  example  will  ever  be 
remembered  amongst  those  who  serve  under  the 
white  eight-pointed  star  of  the  Ancient  Knights  of 
St.  John. 

Pembroke  Bed  Cross  V,A,D, 

It  chanced  that  on  the  Monday  of  the  outbreak 
a  member  of  a  B.R.C.S.  V.A.  Detachment  passed 
the  Royal  City  of  Dublin  Hospital  when  the  first 
of  the  wounded  G.R.  Volunteers  arrived.  He  sent 
a  message  to  assemble  his  Detachment,  and  they 
immediately  took  up  duty  in  the  various  Hospitals. 
Some  of  them  took  in  wounded  men  on  stretchers 
under  circumstances  of  great  danger. 

Mr.  Dickson  of  this  Detachment  was  specially 
mentioned  for  his  good  work  in  connection  with 
the  running  of  the  Rathmines  Ambulance.  On 
Wednesday  the  24th  it  ran  from  Portobello  Mili- 
tary Hospital  to  Beggars'  Bush  Barracks,  being 
in  danger  of  being  shot  at  all  the  journey.  Dur- 
ing that  night  he  made  five  journeys  with  the  Am- 
bulance, and  in  the  following  two  days  he  made 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  SINN  FEIN  RIOTS    131 

several  journeys  and  assisted  in  evacuating  some 
of  the  cases,  and  also  in  taking  drugs  and  neces- 
sities to  the  small  Hospital  at  Beggars'  Bush. 

Difficulties  of  the  Work. 

Imagine  the  conditions  under  which  the  work 
was  carried  out.  The  tram  and  train  service  had 
ceased;  postal  and  telegraph  facilities  no  longer 
existed.  The  telephone  service  was  completely- 
controlled  by  the  Military,  and  all  the  usual  ways 
and  means  of  communication  were  cut  off;  yet 
obstacles  were  surmounted  by  the  V.A.D.  mem- 
bers. 

One  of  them  was  repulsed  by  the  insurgents  at 
two  places,  but  succeeded  in  getting  through  at 
the  third ;  another  was  twice  fired  at  whilst  driv- 
ing a  Motor  Ambulance,  and  a  third  walked  twelve 
miles  out  of  his  direct  route  in  order  to  get  through 
to  his  destination. 

Richmond  Hospital  was  the  centre  of  the  area 
where  fierce  fighting  took  place.  As  the  danger 
increased,  the  beds  were  placed  on  the  floor  to 
avoid  bullets  fired  from  the  housetops.  In  the 
middle  of  the  week  food  ran  short  at  the  Hospital, 
and  Miss  Hezlett,  the  Lady  Superintendent,  co- 
operated in  the  organization  of  an  expedition  to 
obtain  more.  On  a  white  sheet  the  words  **  Rich- 
mond Hospital  Supplies"  were  marked  with  black 
type,  and  Dr.  Pollock  and  two  students,  bearing 
this  banner,  took  out  a  borrowed  horse  and  cart. 


132    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEKS 

In  spite  of  having  to  go  through  some  hot  firing 
they  returned  safely  with  supplies. 

At  the  Rotunda  Hospital  food  almost  gave  out, 
and  extreme  economy  had  to  be  practised.  Even- 
tually, when  a  gallant  friend  sent  down  food  on 
a  van,  the  driver  was  fired  at,  but  luckily  got 
through  unhurt. 

Gas  was  cut  off  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  the 
electricity  on  Wednesday.  Working  in  semi-dark- 
ness added  enormously  to  the  difficulty  of  the  sit- 
uation. The  nursing  staff,  however,  maintained 
a  wonderful  degree  of  calmness  under  the  stress 
of  work,  whilst  there  was  an  accompaniment  of 
roaring  cannon  and  spitting  bullets. 

Ambulance  Patrol, 

On  Easter  Tuesday  it  was  decided  to  start  an 
Ambulance  Patrol  with  its  Headquarters  in  Har- 
court  Street  Eailway  Station.  Day  by  day  the 
cars  ran  the  gauntlet  of  bullet-swept  streets,  being 
frequently  struck  by  shots.  Dangers,  always  pres- 
ent by  day,  increased  a  hundredfold  by  night.  The 
darkened  streets  had  to  be  negotiated  without 
the  aid  of  lights.  The  voluntary  drivers  were 
wonderful  in  the  way  they  kept  up  a  high  speed 
and  yet  managed  to  take  their  load  of  wounded 
men  through  in  safety. 

Glass  was  everywhere.  Tram  wires,  coiled  in 
big  loops,  lay  about,  and  in  one  place  a  huge 
length  of  telephone  wire  coiled  itself  round  the 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  SINN  FEIN  EIOTS     133 

wheels  of  a  car.  In  the  daytime  the  drivers  had 
to  memorise  the  danger  spots  where  houses  and 
walls  were  down,  so  that  they  should  not  run 
amuck  at  night.  Many  a  time  the  drivers  were 
asked  to  go  and  fetch  wounded  men  across  a  dan- 
gerous area,  and  in  every  case  they  just  **  cranked 
up''  their  cars  and  went  without  a  word. 

When  the  ordinary  cars  could  get  no  further 
there  was  an  armoured  motor  car  which  carried 
stretchers  right  into  the  thick  of  the  fight.  It 
would  turn  broadside  so  as  to  give  the  stretcher- 
bearers  as  much  shelter  as  possible  from  the 
snipers. 

The  bearers  would  lie  down  and  wriggle  along 
the  streets,  pulling  the  stretchers  after  them.  It 
is  never  easy  to  load  a  stretcher  with  a  wounded 
man,  but  add  to  the  difficulties  pitch  darkness  and 
the  fact  that  you  must  yourself  lie  on  the  ground 
and  it  becomes  apparently  impossible.  But  the 
impossible  was  achieved  again  and  again  by  these 
gallant  men,  who  did  their  duty  as  simply  and  as 
courageously  as  those  other  Red  Cross  men  who 
are  working  on  foreign  battle-fields  against  a  com- 
mon foe.  These  bearers  often  had  to  walk  half  a 
mile  under  cross  fire. 

Gallant  Conduct. 

Amongst  so  many  instances  of  gallantry  and 
conspicuous  courage  it  is  difficult  to  mention  any 
names  in  particular.    For  instance,  Mr.  Henry 


134    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Olds  was  informed  that  a  wounded  man  was  lying 
on  O'Connell  Bridge.  He  hastened  there  and 
found  that  a  blind  man  had  been  seriously 
wounded. 

First  Aid  was  applied,  but  whilst  he  was  put- 
ting on  the  bandage  he  was  himself  shot  in  the 
shoulder.  This,  however,  did  not  prevent  him  com- 
pleting his  work,  and  he  managed  to  bring  the  man 
to  a  place  of  safety  before  he  became  unconscious 
himself. 

On  Wednesday  work  was  allotted  to  a  great 
number  of  St.  John  officers  and  men  who  wished 
to  assist,  a  room  being  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Brigade  in  the  City  of  Dublin  Hospital,  Baggot 
Street. 

Corrig  Castle  Red  Cross  Hospital. 

Dr.  Reginald  Peacocke,  Assistant  County  Direc- 
tor of  the  County  of  Dublin  Branch  of  the 
B.R.C.S.,  speaks  highly  of  the  work  done  by  the 
V.A.D.  members,  especially  at  Corrig  Castle  Red 
Cross  Hospital. 

There  was  a  continuous  procession  at  the  Hos- 
pital of  refugees,  amongst  them  being  two  stokers 
from  H.M.S.  ^*Tara,"  who  had  been  liberated 
by  the  Duke  of  Westminster's  armoured  car  ex- 
pedition, and  who  were  passing  through  Kings- 
town on  their  way  home,  but  were  unable  to 
proceed. 

Owing  to  the  great  difficulty  in  procuring  food. 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  SINN  FEIN  EIOTS     135 

bread  had  to  be  baked  and  butter  churned  on  the 
premises,  some  of  the  V.A.D.  members  being  on 
duty  for  fourteen  hours  a  day,  whilst  the  Matron, 
Miss  Harris,  Commandant,  was  on  duty  for  three 
days  and  three  nights  continuously. 

The  British  Red  Cross  branches  of  the  City  and 
County  of  Dublin  took  a  large  share  in  the  work. 
Mrs.  Heppell-Marr,  Assistant  County  Director  of 
the  City  of  Dublin  Branch,  was  at  her  post  at  29, 
Fitzwilliam  Street,  each  day,  and  many  members 
of  the  B.R.C.S.  Detachments  took  their  share  in 
carrying  the  wounded  in  under  fire.  The  offices 
at  29,  Fitzwilliam  Street,  were  converted  into  a 
temporary  hospital,  the  V.A.D.  members  collect- 
ing supplies  from  the  public.  This  Hospital  con- 
tained fifty  beds. 

Another  Hospital,  with  twenty-five  beds,  was 
set  up  at  32,  Fitzwilliam  Square. 

Refugee  Women  and  Children, 

All  kinds  of  duties  were  taken  over  by  the  De- 
tachments, whilst  isolated  members  helped  refugee 
women  and  children,  gave  assistance  at  the 
B.R.C.S.  Dressing  Stations,  carried  bales  of  dress- 
ings on  stretchers  to  the  various  Hospitals,  fed 
the  starving  poor  and  rendered  First  Aid  to 
civilians. 

One  Detachment  started  a  Canteen  for  soldiers ; 
another  kept  a  Canteen  going  at  the  munition 
works  throughout  the  riots. 


136    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Women  Str etcher-Bearers. 

In  pre-war  days  many  were  the  discussions  as 
to  whether  women  could  or  should  do  stretcher 
work.  The  women  V.A.D.  members  in  Ireland  set- 
tled the  question  once  and  for  all  because  an  enor- 
mous amount  of  stretcher  work  was  carried  out  by 
them  most  successfully. 

There  were  not  nearly  enough  men  to  do  this 
work,  and  the  women  showed  not  only  their  knowl- 
edge of  how  to  do  it,  but  their  complete  indiffer- 
ence to  danger  when  it  became  a  matter  of  duty 
that  they  should  go  out  and  rescue  wounded  people 
in  the  shell-swept  streets.  They  made  regular 
tours  in  the  city,  and  rendered  First  Aid  to  the 
wounded  before  they  brought  them  into  the  Hos- 
pitals. 

Filling  Gaps. 

All  sorts  of  gaps  were  filled  by  the  devoted 
members  of  V.A.  Detachments  during  that  terrible 
week  in  Dublin.  At  the  Castle  Hospital  it  was 
found  that  there  was  exceeding  difficulty  in  get- 
ting the  laundry  work  done.  V.A.D.  members 
volunteered  to  do  it,  and  everything  went  well. 
Washing,  cooking,  kitchen  work — it  did  not  mat- 
ter what  it  was,  what  kind  of  labour  was  required ; 
it  was  all  cheerfully  and  capably  undertaken  by 
V.A.D.  members. 


iV.A.D.  WOEK  IN  SINN  FEIN  EIOTS     137 

Ella  Webb,  M,D. 

Dr.  Ella  Webb,  Lady  District  Superintendent 
of  S.J.A.B.,  and  member  of  the  Joint  V.A.D.  Com- 
mittee for  Ireland,  rendered  splendid  service  dur- 
ing the  rebellion,  for  she  organized  Hospitals,  and 
cycled  through  the  firing  line  continuously.  She 
visited  the  City  Hospitals  day  by  day,  ascertain- 
mg  their  needs  and  giving  all  possible  assistance. 
She  and  Dr.  Lumsden  were  both  awarded  silver 
medals  by  the  Chapter-General  of  the  Order  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem  for  their  services  during 
the  week  of  the  riot. 

Dr.  Webb,  in  the  report  which  she  issued  later, 
remarks  that  she  was  particularly  struck  with  the 
two  great  lessons  which  the  V.A.D.  members  had 
learned ;  the  first  was  to  be  plucky,  resourceful  and 
competent,  and  the  second  was  to  obey.  She  says : 
**I  was  particularly  struck  with  the  way  in  which 
members  took  their  orders  to  devote  themselves 
to  dull,  arduous  and  uninteresting  work  with  the 
same  cheerfulness  as  to  nursing  in  the  wards." 

Dr,  John  Lumsden,  M,D. 

Dr.  John  Lumsden,  M.D.,  Knight  of  Grace  of 
the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  Deputy  Com- 
missioner of  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Brigade, 
Director  General  of  the  Joint  V.A.D.  Committee 
for     Ireland,     showed     extraordinary     courage 


138    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

throughout  the  rebellion.  He  was  always  in  the 
thick  of  the  fight. 

An  eyewitness,  speaking  of  his  work,  said :  **His 
conduct  was  simply  magnificent.  He  is  the  bravest 
man  I  ever  saw.  He  coolly  and  calmly  knelt  in 
the  middle  of  the  road  attending  to  the  wounded 
soldiers,  while  bullets  were  fired  from  the  houses 
on  both  sides.  He  helped  the  men  into  the  Ambu- 
lance wagons  himself,  sent  them  off,  and  waited 
until  they  returned,  and  during  all  the  time  he  was 
under  a  heavy  cross  fire. ' ' 

He  was  under  fire  for  several  hours  together. 
Day  by  day  the  Ambulance  cars  ran  the  gauntlet 
of  bullet-swept  streets.  The  dangers  increased 
a  hundredfold  by  night,  when  the  streets,  shrouded 
in  darkness  and  encumbered  by  obstacles,  had  to 
be  negotiated  without  the  aid  of  lights.  Ambu- 
lances were  frequently  struck  by  shots  whilst  on 
their  journeys. 

In  one  house  where  six  or  seven  wounded  sol- 
diers were  found  the  men  managed  under  these 
conditions  to  get  the  wounded  loaded  on  to  the 
stretchers  and  into  the  armoured  cars  in  safety. 
Two  bearers  had  very  narrow  escapes,  bullets 
passing  through  their  clothing;  one  stretcher 
handle  had  its  end  knocked  off.  Several  bullets 
struck  the  armoured  car  as  it  left. 

Another  typical  feature  was  the  extreme  care 
and  correct  handling  given  by  the  stretcher-bear- 
ers   amidst    the    most    nerve-trying    conditions. 


iV.A.D.  WORK  IN  SINN  FEIN  EIOTS     139 

Their  first  thought  was  for  the  comfort  of  the 
patient,  and  the  best  method  of  ensuring  his  safe 
and  comfortable  transport. 

The  Military  casualties  during  the  insurrection 
amounted  to  some  five  hundred,  and  the  civilian 
losses  in  killed  and  wounded  amounted  to  more 
than  a  thousand,  so  some  idea  may  be  formed  of 
the  emergencies  under  which  the  Ambulance  men 
and  women  of  Dublin  worked  during  that  week. 

Nursing  Detachments. 

The  chief  piece  of  work  undertaken  by  the  Nurs- 
ing Divisions  was  the  transformation  of  the  War 
Hospital  Supply  Depot  in  Merrion  Square  into  a 
temporary  Hospital.  This  was  carried  out  in  the 
amazingly  short  time  of  three  hours. 

Dr.  Ella  Webb  sent  out  messages  at  noon  to 
members  to  report  themselves,  and  at  2  p.m.  girls 
began  to  arrive,  though  in  many  cases  their  jour- 
neys had  been  hazardous.  At  five  o'clock  that 
afternoon  an  amputation  was  being  done  in  the 
improvised  operating  theatre,  and  quite  half  of 
the  thirty  beds  were  already  full. 

Dr.  Webb  says  in  her  report:  '*As  this  work  en- 
tailed the  carrying  in  by  hand  of  all  mattresses, 
beds,  bedding,  and  utensils  from  the  neighbouring 
houses,  and  the  clearing  away  of  large,  heavy 
work  tables  with  which  the  rooms  were  originally 
filled,  it  is  a  performance  of  which  the  V.A.D, 
members  have  every  right  to  be  proud.'' 


140    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Auxiliary  Hospitals, 

Seven  Auxiliary  Hospitals  were  equipped  by 
other  Detachments.  In  one  case  a  Hospital  was 
helped  by  a  band  of  ladies  who  organized  an  all- 
day  working  party  for  dressings,  etc.,  and  a  food 
supply  party.  Large  quantities  of  both  food  and 
dressings  were  provided. 

Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  to  the  ladies 
of  the  Red  Cross  Branches  of  the  City  and  County 
of  Dublin  for  the  work  which  they  performed  dur- 
ing the  rebellion,  and  it  is  impossible  here  to  men- 
tion the  individual  acts  of  gallantry  which  were 
done  by  many  members. 

A  great  many  temporary  Hospitals  were 
equipped  and  made  absolutely  ready  for  the  re- 
ception of  patients,  which  happily  were  never  used, 
as  the  rebellion  was  quickly  quelled  by  the  au- 
thorities. 

Kingstown  Men's  Detachment, 

This  Detachment  was  mobilised,  and  on  Thurs- 
day, April  27th,  twelve  of  them  left  Kingstown 
and  marched  into  Ballsbridge,  and  reported  to 
the  M.O.  in  command  of  the  R.A.M.C.  there.  On 
the  following  day  they  returned  to  Kingstown,  and 
did  excellent  work  at  Corrig  Castle  Hospital. 

Many  Milit^ary  and  Naval  refugees  arrived  at 
the  Hospital,  which  added  considerably  to  the 
work  of  the  staff,  as  they  all  had  to  be  fed  and 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  SINN  FEIN  RIOTS     141 

housed,  the  majority  of  them  remaining  about  ten 
days.  A  number  of  soldiers  were  brought  in  on 
Tuesday,  including  an  R.A.M.C.  Captain  who  had 
been  wounded,  and  a  number  of  men  suffering 
from  vaccination  fever.  Shortly  afterwards  there 
arrived  five  Queen  Alexandra  nurses  on  their  way 
to  King  George  V  Hospital.  In  fact,  there  was  a 
continuous  procession  of  refugees,  both  Military 
and  civilian. 

There  was  such  terrible  difficulty  in  procuring 
bread  that  the  kitchen  was  turned  into  a  bakery, 
and  even  butter  was  churned  on  the  premises. 
Some  of  the  V.A.D.  members  were  on  duty  day  and 
night. 

Canteens, 

Canteens  were  opened  in  various  places  so  that 
the  soldiers  on  duty  might  be  fed,  and  these  were 
for  the  most  part  entirely  run  by  V.A.D.  members. 
Of  one  lady  who  was  in  charge  of  a  Canteen,  it 
is  recorded  that  she  never  went  off  duty  for  eleven 
days,  taking  only  snatches  of  sleep  in  a  chair. 

Smart  Worh, 

The  Misses  J.  and  R.  Fitzpatrick  first  reported 
to  the  Military  authorities  the  seizure  by  the  Sinn 
Feiners  of  various  points  of  vantage.  During  the 
whole  of  the  rebellion  they  worked  in  the  hottest 
and  most  dangerous  fighting  zone.    They  warned 


142   BRITAIN'S  dVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

the  incoming  soldiers  and  troops  and  acted  as 
guides  to  them. 

They  gave  First  Aid  to  any  number  of  wounded 
Military  and  civilians,  and  they  carried  the 
wounded  from  under  fire  to  places  of  safety.  They 
provided  food  for  the  soldiers  in  the  trenches  on 
the  Canal  bank,  and  elsewhere,  and  all  the  time 
they  were  passing  to  and  fro,  their  garden  being 
under  a  severe  cross  fire  from  troops  and  rebels. 

'A  Dramatic  Incident, 

It  was  on  the  Wednesday  evening  following 
Easter  Monday  that  the  Sherwood  Foresters 
marched  towards  Dublin  into  the  death  trap  that 
awaited  them  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Northum- 
berland Road.  Into  the  inferno  the  Lady  Super- 
intendent and  nurses  of  Sir  Patrick  Dun's  Nurs- 
ing Home  bravely  set  forth  at  about  four  o'clock 
i;n  the  afternoon.  They  were  the  first  on  the 
scene,  and  they  improvised  stretchers  out  of 
quilts. 

The  resident  medical  staff  of  the  Hospital  were 
also  gallantly  engaged  in  this  rescue  work,  and 
between  them  they  carried  seventy-nine  wounded 
men,  including  soldiers  and  rebels,  into  the  Home. 
This  work  went  on  from  four  in  the  afternoon 
until  midnight.  Men  and  women  alike  rendered 
aid  under  fire  with  the  utmost  coolness  and 
courage. 

A  soldier  who  had  been  for  many  months  in  the 


Outdoor    uniform    of    a    Lady    Super- 
intendent-in-Chief, 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  SINN  FEIN  EIOTS     143 

trenches  in  France  and  happened  to  be  in  Dublin 
on  leave  during  the  riots  told  me  that  he  had 
never  seen  hotter  fire  than  that  which  swept  the 
streets  of  the  Irish  capital. 

Sir  Patrick  Dun's  Hospital  became  full  to  over- 
flowing with  wounded,  and  its  approaches  were  so 
constantly  swept  with  rifle  fire  that  it  was  found 
necessary  to  throw  open  the  Maternity  Hospital 
for  the  treatment  of  casualties.  In  all  some  forty 
bullet  wounds  of  a  shocking  nature  were  treated 
at  the  Hospital,  twelve  of  them  proving  fatal. 

The  priests  attached  to  St.  Andrew's  Church, 
close  by,  were  constantly  in  the  thick  of  the  dan- 
ger, ministering  to  the  wounded  and  dying. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  Sinn  Feiners 
always  respected  the  sign  of  the  Red  Cross  and 
never  deliberately  fired  upon  an  Ambulance  or  a 
Hospital. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  give  some  slight  notion 
of  the  magnificence  of  the  work  which  was  carried 
out  by  each  and  every  Detachment  in  the  district 
where  the  riots  took  place.  Instances  of  personal 
courage  there  were  without  number,  and  although 
we  can  only  mention  a  few  here  as  being  typical 
of  all  the  others,  we  are  glad  to  know  that  their 
services  have  been  recognized  by  the  War  Office 
and  by  the  authorities  of  the  Red  Cross  Societies. 

Terrible  indeed  it  was  that  such  an  occasion 
should  ever  arise;  but  since  the  thing  happened 
one  can  only  be  thankful  that  there  was  already 


144    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEKS 

prepared  a  body  of  men  and  women,  efficiently 
trained,  capable  and  willing,  who  could  deal  with 
the  emergency. 

Of  doctors  and  regular  trained  nurses  there 
could  not  have  possibly  been  anything  like  enough 
to  cope  with  the  situation,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  work  of  the  V.A.  Detachments  in 
Ireland  proves  how  invaluable  they  are  to  a  coun- 
try whether  it  be  at  war  or  enjoying  peace. 

One  can  scarcely  dare  to  imagine  what  would 
have  happened  to  those  hundreds  of  wounded  men 
and  women  in  the  streets  of  Dublin  during  that 
awful  week  had  there  not  been  this  devoted  band 
of  voluntary  workers  who  had  trained  themselves 
in  the  principles  of  First  Aid,  of  stretcher-bear- 
ing, and  of  elementary  nursing. 

The  work  which  was  done  by  the  V.A.  Detach- 
ments in  the  Sinn  Fein  riots  alone  must  prove  to 
the  whole  world  how  necessary  it  is  that  patriotic 
men  and  women  should  identify  themselves  with 
the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachment  movement,  learn- 
ing not  only  the  principles  of  how  to  render  help ' 
under  such  circumstances,  but  perhaps  the  even 
more  important  matters  of  discipline,  and  of  car- 
rying out  any  bit  of  work  which  comes  to  hand 
and  which  is  an  infinitesimal  fragment  in  the  de- 
sign of  Mercy  which  was  pictured  for  the  world 
by  the  pioneers  of  Eed  Cross  work. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

V.A.D.  WoKK  IN  France 

"pv ESTIMATION  unknown!''  Soldiers  are 
X^  not  the  only  people  who  cross  the  seas  know- 
ing not  at  all  the  place  for  which  they  are  bound, 
for  many  V.A.D.  members  step  on  board  the  Chan- 
nel boat  with  no  more  definite  instructions  than 
**  report  yourselves  at  Headquarters  in  Bou- 
logne." It  is  only  one  more  of  the  odd  experi- 
ences which  war  has  given  to  some  of  us  and  no 
one  quarrels  with  it. 

The  principal  V.A.D.  Commandant  in  France, 
Miss  Rachel  Crowdy,  R.R.C.,  has  a  big  task  on 
her  hands,  but  she  handles  it  with  masterly  skill, 
with  broad  common-sense  and,  above  all,  with  jus- 
tice. She  shows  no  favour  to  British  Red  Cross 
Society  members,  although  she  was  a  member  of 
that  Society  some  years  before  the  war  broke  out, 
and  she  puts  St.  John  or  British  Red  Cross  So- 
ciety members  into  this  or  that  post  simply  ac- 
cording to  their  suitability.  I  can  speak  from 
personal  experience  of  her  sense  of  **fair  play'* 
(a  quality  in  which  women  are  supposed — quite 
wrongly — to  be  lacking),  and  no  words  can  express 

145 


146    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

the  esteem  in  which  I  hold  her  after  having  worked 
under  her  for  nine  and  a  half  months.  Directly 
a  woman  V.A.D.  member  arrives  in  France  she  is 
absolutely  under  Miss  Crowdy's  control,  so  that 
this  lady,  young  though  she  be  in  years,  holds  all 
the  threads  of  V.A.D.  Work,  which  stretch  like  a 
vast  cobweb  over  the  war  zone  in  France. 

First  of  all  let  me  try  to  give  you  a  picture 
of  the  work  in  its  entirety.  There  are  hundreds 
of  V.A.D.  members  working  as  nurses  and  order- 
lies in  the  great  Military  Hospitals  at  the  various 
Bases;  there  are  dozens  of  members  working  in 
the  same  way  in  Auxiliary  Red  Cross  Hospitals ; 
there  are  members  who  spend  their  whole  lives 
on  railway  stations,  attending  to  the  wounded  as 
they  come  straight  down  from  the  firing  line. 
There  are  Units  of  girl  motorists  who  drive  am- 
bulances, and  dozens  of  others  who  run  canteens 
for  convalescent  soldiers  who  have  not  had  the 
luck  to  be  sent  to  England  and  who  are  sadly  in 
need  of  the  understanding  word  given  by  a  woman 
whilst  she  ministers  to  their  physical  comforts. 
Some  V.A.D.  members  do  nothing  but  clerical 
work,  many  being  engaged  in  the  sad  labour  of 
trying  to  trace  ** Missing''  men.  This  is  a  spe- 
cially self-sacrificing  bit  of  work,  it  always  seems 
to  me,  for  it  means  close  work  in  an  office  from 
morning  to  night,  often  with  but  small  results. 
"When,  however,  a  man  is  traced,  the  joy  of  the 
relatives  surely  more  than  repays  the  worker  for 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  FRANCE  147 

much  which  must  sometimes  seem  to  be  labour  in 
vain. 

There  are  altogether  thirty-three  different 
kinds  of  V.A.D.  Units  in  Prance !  Following  our 
instructions,  we  will  first  go  to  the  Headquarters, 
which  is  a  big  Hotel  that  has  been  entirely  taken 
over  by  the  Joint  Committee.  Here  all  the  heads 
of  Departments  have  offices.  Miss  Fletcher,  Chief 
of  all  Trained  Nurses  in  France,  has  an  office  here 
and  works  in  great  harmony  with  Miss  Crowdy. 
The  Trained  Sisters  have  learned  to  appreciate 
the  work  of  V.A.D.  members  and  freely  acknowl- 
edge that  they  could  not  possibly  manage  without 
them;  whilst  on  the  part  of  the  members  they 
give  respect  and  willing  obedience  to  the  skilled 
women  who  have  spent  years  in  acquiring  their 
knowledge  of  nursing.  There  is  wonderfully  lit- 
tle friction,  considering  the  enormous  number  of 
people  who  have  been  thrown  to  work  together 
suddenly  and  under  som,ewhat  difficult  circum- 
stances. 

Here  again  we  get  a  very  valuable  fusion  of 
classes.  Difficulties  arise  abroad  which  can  never 
be  encountered  in  England,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  the 
surmounting  of  these  obstacles  which  tears  down 
any  of  the  old  feelings  of  opposition  and  makes 
the  majority  of  workers  labour  together  in  mar- 
vellous accord. 

There  is  something  very  fine  in  seeing  a  group 
of  V.A.D.  members  at  work  at  a  little  Outpost  in 


148    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

France,  some  of  them  wearing  the  Red  Crosses 
upon  their  aprons,  which  show  them  to  be  mem- 
bers of  the  British  Red  Cross  Society;  whilst 
others  wear  the  white  eight-pointed  star,  which 
signifies  their  membership  of  St.  John.  Each  one 
is  proud  of  her  own  Society,  and  the  unimportant 
differences  are  frequently  discussed  with  consid- 
erable interest;  but  it  is  rare  indeed  to  trace  a 
bitter  word,  or  to  note  a  suggestion  of  superiority 
on  the  part  of  either  the  one  or  the  other. 

Women  in  the  highest  ranks  of  society  are  con- 
tent to  scrub  and  clean ;  many  a  highly  intellectual 
woman  is  working  in  the  kitchen  or  the  pantry  or 
the  linen-room  of  Hospitals  in  France,  with  dog- 
ged determination  to  overcome  the  awful  fatigue 
entailed  by  these  physical  labors.  Surely  these 
women  can  take  place  side  by  side  with  the  cul- 
tured men  who  have  enlisted  and  have  uncomplain- 
ingly endured  the  rough  food,  the  hard  sleeping- 
places,  the  companionship  of  men  utterly  apart 
from  themselves  in  taste,  in  order  that  they  should 
take  their  place  in  the  great  fight. 

Miss  Rose  Macaulay,  in  her  poem  '^Many  Sis- 
ters to  Many  Brothers,''  says  very  truly: 

"  Oh,  it's  you  that  have  the  luck,  out  there  in  blood  and  muck : 
You  were  born  beneath  a  kindly  star; 
All  we  dreamt,  I  and  you,  you  can  really  go  and  do, 

And  I  can't,  the  way  things  are. 
In  a  trench  you  are  sitting,  while  I  am  knitting 

A  hopeless  sock  that  never  gets  done. 
Well,  here's  luck,  my  dear; — and  you've  got  it,  no  fear; 
But  for  me  ...  a  war  is  poor  fun." 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  FRANCE  149 

Women  must  needs  be  content  with  doing  the 
humbler  jobs  which  go  to  build  up  the  defence  of 
our  Empire. 

In  Prance  the  workers  are  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  horrors  of  war.  Down  at  the  Base  Hos- 
pitals they  have  the  men  coming  in  direct  from 
the  trains  which  have  brought  them  from  the 
trenches,  and  their  condition  is  pitiable  beyond 
words.  But  even  more,  the  members  who  are 
placed  further  up  the  line  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
conditions  under  which  our  men  fight. 

**I  do  not  suppose  I  really  understand  a  bit 
what  it  is  like, ' '  said  a  V.A.D.  member  to  a  young 
ofiicer;  **but  it  was  bad  enough  to  see  the  men  on 
their  way  down  to  the  Base  just  a  few  hours  after 
they  had  been  hit." 

*^I  think  you  have  a  very  good  understanding,'' 
he  returned.  **You  get  your  stories  first-hand; 
and  whilst  everything  was  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
the  men  they  would  be  likely  to  speak  more  openly 
than  they  do  after  some  days  have  elapsed." 

**I  noticed  that,"  said  the  girl.  **Men  coming 
down  from  the  firing  line,  with  their  clothes  torn 
off  their  backs  by  the  barbed  wire,  and  first  with 
field  dressings  on  their  wounds,  would  *  blurt  out' 
things  which  I  never  heard  from  a  man  in  Hos- 
pital. It  was  as  though  they  were  obsessed  with 
the  horror  of  it  all,  and  although  I  never  once 
heard  a  grumble  or  a  bad  word,  they  let  little  facts 
drop  which,  pieced  together,  have  taken  definite 


150    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

form  in  my  mind.  It  is  exactly  as  if  I  had  been 
putting  together  a  jig-saw  puzzle,  for  all  the  odd, 
queer  remarks  made  by  these  men  who  had  been 
in  the  trenches  actually  fighting  the  enemy  only 
a  few  hours  previously  are  gradually  assimilated 
by  one 's  mind ;  and  after  a  time  one  finds  uncon- 
sciously that  there  grows  a  complete  and  inefface- 
able picture,  as  it  were,  in  one's  brain.'' 

That  is  really  the  secret  of  the  difference  of  the 
work  abroad  and  at  home.  Undoubtedly  there 
are  V. A.  members  who  go  forward  with  their  work, 
carrying  it  through  most  excellently,  but  without 
ever  touching  on  the  inner  side  of  war;  but  the 
majority  feel  it  is  the  greatest  privilege  that  has 
ever  fallen  to  their  lot  to  have  been  allowed  to 
see  beneath  the  surface,  and  to  get  some  faint 
knowledge  of  what  the  men  suffer  for  honour's 
sake. 

The  Network  in  France, 

Here  again  we  will  follow  the  same  plan  as  that 
which  we  pursued  in  England.  I  will  try  to  give 
you  a  glimpse  of  the  network  in  France,  and  show 
you  what  men  and  women  V.A.D.  members  are 
weaving  there  for  the  benefit  of  our  soldiers.  Nat- 
urally out  there  the  majority  of  men  are  in  the 
Army,  and  for  the  most  part  it  is  the  women  who 
are  engaged  in  V.A.D.  work,  though  there  are 
numbers  of  men  over  military  age  who  are  ren- 
dering magnificent  service  to  the  Joint  Societies. 


CHAPTER  XV 
Red  Cross  and  St.  John  Hospitals  in  Fbance. 

THERE  are  in  France  a  great  many  large  Hos- 
pitals which  come  under  the  general  term 
of  Red  Cross  Hospitals.  This  means  that  they 
are  not  General  or  Stationary  Military  Hospitals, 
but  are  kept  up  by  Red  Cross  funds  and  are  staffed 
by  Red  Cross  members,  though  in  every  case  fully 
trained  Sisters  are  in  charge  of  the  wards. 

Naturally  these  Hospitals  form  a  very  large 
field  of  operations  for  V.A.D.  members,  both  men 
and  women,  for  there  are  a  good  many  posts  which 
must  be  filled  by  men,  and  in  which  voluntary 
workers  of  over  military  age  are  giving  signal 
service. 

For  the  first  year  of  the  war  a  large  number  of 
Red  Cross  orderlies  were  used  in  these  Hospitals, 
but  it  became  necessary  that  they  should  be  re- 
leased for  other  work,  and  women  belonging  to 
V.A.  Detachments  came  forward  eagerly  to  fill 
their  places. 

For  instance,  in  a  very  large  Hospital  in  one 
of  the  big  French  towns,  which  is  an  English  Base, 
something  like  a  hundred  men  orderlies  were  re- 

m 


152    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

leased,  and  their  places  were  taken  by  girls,  who 
have  proved  great  successes  as  orderlies.  When 
it  is  remembered  what  it  means  to  be  an  orderly 
in  a  Hospital,  we  cannot  but  admire  these  women, 
most  of  them  highly  educated  and  delicately  nur- 
tured, who  have  thrown  themselves  into  the  gap 
made  by  the  departure  of  the  men,  and  who  cheer- 
fully carry  out  the  arduous  labour  which  falls  to 
the  share  of  the  orderly  in  Hospital. 

In  these  Red  Cross  Hospitals  the  work  for 
V.A.D.  members  is  apportioned  with  the  greatest 
care.  There  are  those  who  have  had  some  nurs- 
ing experience  who  are  put  into  the  wards  to  act 
as  probationers  under  the  Sisters.  When  there 
is  a  big  push  on,  and  the  Hospital  is  filled  to  over- 
flowing by  wounded  men  who  come  down  direct 
from  the  Front,  these  girls  have  the  chance  of 
proving  themselves  exceedingly  useful  to  the  Sis- 
ters. 

In  many  cases  they  have  benefited  by  their  year 
or  so  in  Hospital  to  such  an  extent  that  they  can 
be  perfectly  well  trusted  with  certain  responsible 
tasks,  and  Matrons  and  Sisters  have  constantly 
told  me  when  I  have  visited  various  Hospitals 
that  some  of  the  experienced  V.A.D.  members  are 
quite  as  good  as  regular  staff  Hospital  nurses. 
This  is  high  praise,  because  a  fully  trained  woman 
realises  that  no  risks  must  be  taken  where  a 
wounded  man  is  in  the  case ;  and  a  V.A.D.  nurse 
must  show  herself  not  only  conscientious   and 


EED  CROSS  IN  FRANCE  153 

hard-working,  but  really  capable  and  efficient,  be- 
fore she  is  put  into  any  position  of  trust. 

I  have  known  V.A.D.  members  who  have  been 
given  charge  of  wards  (always  under  the  super- 
vision of  a  Sister  of  an  adjoining  ward)  who  have 
been  theatre  nurses,  who  have  acted  as  *^ specials'' 
to  very  serious  cases,  who  have  looked  after  iso- 
lation patients,  and  who  have  had  under  their 
charge  a  large  number  of  German  wounded. 

In  fact,  there  is  no  kind  of  nursing  work  which 
has  not  been  carried  out  at  one  time  or  another 
by  a  V.A.D.  member ;  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  there  are  an  infinite  number  of  grades  of 
knowledge  amongst  these  members,  from  the  fully 
trained  Sister  who  gives  her  services  voluntarily 
and  is  a  V.A.D.  member  herself  down  to  the  girl 
who  has  never  taken  even  a  First  Aid  certificate, 
but  has  enrolled  herself  under  the  General  Service 
Regulations  of  the  Voluntary  Aid  Movement.  It 
is  a  great  pity  that  there  has  come  to  be  a  general 
notion  on  the  part  of  the  public  that  ** V.A.D.''  is 
synonymous  with  *  *  untrained. ' '  They  are  not  un- 
trained, neither  are  they  often  **fully  trained." 

All  of  these  grades  of  workers  are  to  be  met, 
and  it  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  visit  them  and 
see  exactly  what  is  being  done.  In  one  Hospital 
in  France,  which  I  know  very  well  indeed,  two 
fully  trained  nurses  who  had  belonged  to  Volun- 
tary Aid  Detachments  long  before  war  broke  out 
have  given  their  services  for  over  two  years. 


154    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

They  are  very  fully  qualified  women,  and  they  em- 
phasize the  fact  by  being  able  and  willing  to  do 
anything  and  everything  that  comes  to  hand. 

Naturally  they  take  the  responsible  part  of  the 
nursing,  but  they  nobly  share  in  the  lowlier  tasks 
of  the  Hospital  when  they  threaten  to  overwhelm 
the  staff.  These  fully  trained  Sisters  take  their 
turn  to  get  up  in  the  early  morning  and  light  the 
fires,  and  when  there  is  extra  pressure  in  the 
kitchen  or  in  the  house,  by  reason  of  the  sudden 
illness  perhaps  of  a  member  of  the  staff,  they 
cheerfully  and  capably  put  their  hands  to  the 
plough. 

This  is  an  example  which  must  not  be  over- 
looked, because  it  calls  for  a  special  kind  of  praise 
and  appreciation.  The  fully  trained  women  who 
have  joined  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  and  have 
thus  become  V.A.D.  members  have  absorbed  the 
spirit  of  the  movement,  and  instead  of  looking 
down  upon  their  members  who  are  only  half  or 
quarter  trained,  as  it  were,  they  realise  the  valu- 
able work  done  by  the  humbler  folk  in  this  great 
organization. 

Linen  Store-keepers, 

The  linen  store  of  a  great  Hospital  gives  a  rare 
opportunity  for  the  display  of  organization  and 
method  on  the  part  of  its  keeper. 

At  a  certain  Red  Cross  Hospital,  where  there 
are  500  beds,  between  5,000  and  6,000  articles  go 


BED  CEOSS  IN  FRANCE  155 

to  the  laundry  each  week,  and  of  course  there  are 
a  large  number  in  reserve.  Imagine  the  chaos 
of  having  soiled  sheets  and  pillow-cases  running 
into  hundreds  if  there  were  not  a  wonderful 
method  employed. 

This  work  is  almost  invariably  done  alone  by 
one  or  two  V.A.D.  members.  They  spend  their 
lives  in  the  store,  receiving  soiled  and  giving 
out  clean  linen,  but  their  task  does  not  end 
there,  since  every  torn  or  worn  article  must  be 
mended  before  it  is  allowed  to  go  into  the  Hospital 
again. 

The  linen  is  kept  strictly  on  Military  principles, 
and  the  first  sight  of  the  books  which  are  sent 
down  by  the  Military  authorities  is  quite  enough 
to  frighten  the  ordinary  woman;  but  the  linen 
store-keeper  bravely  tackles  them  and  surmounts 
all  difficulties.  She  gradually  falls  into  the  rou- 
tine, which  is  much  easier  than  it  looks,  and  it  is 
a  rare  occurrence  for  one  of  these  Red  Cross  Hos- 
pitals to  lose  a  single  article,  though  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  the  store-keeper  goes  through 
many  an  anxious  moment  when  she  thinks  some 
such  disaster  has  befallen  her. 

The  linen  store  room  becomes  a  kind  of  centre 
to  which  everyone  goes  who  wants  a  job  of  needle- 
work done  quickly.  In  one  of  the  big  Red  Cross 
Hospitals  in  a  French  town  a  St.  John  V.A.D. 
member  has  created  a  very  enviable  character  for 
herself,  because  she  is  always  willing  to  help  in 


156    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

all  sorts  of  ways  those  who  are  in  *' sewing''  dif- 
ficulties. 

At  Christmas  time  she  showed  her  ingenuity  by 
making  fancy-dress  costumes  at  very  small  cost, 
to  be  worn  by  those  who  were  entertaining  the 
patients ;  and  once  when  a  Lieutenant  got  his  pro- 
motion almost  at  the  same  moment  that  he  had  or- 
ders to  move  on  to  another  town,  she  deftly  added 
his  stars  and  stripes  to  his  tunic  in  an  incredibly 
short  space  of  time.  He  was  particularly  anxious 
to  have  his  new  rank  shown  for  special  reasons, 
and  was  most  grateful  to  the  store-keeper,  as  no 
tailor  in  the  town  would  have  undertaken  the  job 
in  the  allotted  time. 

The  linen  shelves  are  kept  with  exquisite  tidi- 
ness, and  the  orderlies  have  been  so  inspired  with 
the  charm  of  neatness  that  they  take  as  much 
pride  in  the  appearance  of  the  store-room  as  the 
store-keeper  does  herself. 

There  is  a  huge  amount  of  mending  and  making 
to  be  done  of  all  kinds,  from  putting  delicate 
stitchery  into  dainty  toilet  accessories  down  to 
mending  a  carpet  which  **has  seen  its  best 
days,"  as  the  member  said  when  she  looked 
up,  smiling,  from  the  unwieldy  fabric  in  her 
hand. 

When  there  is  a  convoy  going  out  to  *'dear  old 
Blighty''  the  store-keeper  has  a  busy  time  of  it. 
Sometimes  she  sees  from  her  window  a  man  lying 
on  a  stretcher  without  slippers,  muffler,  or  helmet, 


EED  CROSS  IN  FRANCE    -         157 

and  she  rushes  out  and  puts  them  on  before  he  is 
carried  away. 

Work  starts  at  7.45  a.m.,  and  the  store-keeper  is 
supposed  to  lock  up  and  get  away  at  seven  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  having  had  her  usual  time  off  dur- 
ing the  day ;  but  very  often  odd  jobs  turn  up  which 
necessitate  her  going  back  to  the  store  and  putting 
in  an  hour's  work  or  more  before  she  goes  to  bed. 

A  complete  system  of  ** chits"  is  used  in  the 
store,  everything  that  is  wanted  in  the  wards  being 
asked  for  on  a  chit  by  the  Sister  in  charge.  These 
chits  are  copied  and  filed  for  further  reference. 
All  laundry  bills  are  checked  before  they  are  paid, 
and  a  complete  record  is  kept  of  everything  that 
goes  into  the  store  or  leaves  it. 

St.  John  Brigade  Hospital, 

One  of  the  many  wonderful  sights  to  be  seen 
in  France  during  these  war  months  is  a  certain 
northern  seaport  which  has  become  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  a  town  of  Hospitals. 

I  had  travelled  all  night  under  circumstances 
which  were  more  warlike  than  comfortable.  I  had 
immensely  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  washing  my  face 
and  hands,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  only  utensil 
to  hand  was  a  saucepan,  and  in  the  very  early 
hours  of  the  morning  we  slowly  steamed  into  the 
little  station  which  has  become  an  important  one 
for  war  work. 

I  had  been  fortunate  enough  to  be  sent  on  a 


158    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

special  mission  to  visit  the  St.  John  Ambulance 
Brigade  Hospital,  and  the  twenty-four  hours  I 
spent  there  have  left  a  strong  impression  upon  me. 

As  we  approached  the  little  town  by  the  long 
bridge  which  crosses  the  estuary  there  my  atten- 
tion was  drawn  to  marvellous  sights.  There  on 
the  ridge  of  sand-dunes  were  lines  and  lines  of 
white  tents,  intersected  here  and  there  by  groups 
of  brown  wooden  huts.  That  was  in  the  early 
days  of  the  war,  but  in  the  course  of  time  the 
tents  were  made  less  conspicuous,  and  in  many 
places  were  entirely  replaced  by  huts. 

An  Ambulance  had  been  sent  to  meet  me,  and 
as  I  sat  on  the  front  seat  and  we  dashed  over  the 
cobbled  stones  of  the  quaint  little  town  whilst  it 
was  still  only  6  a.m.,  I  was  conscious  of  a  thrill, 
and  also  of  being  the  recipient  of  a  great  privi- 
lege in  being  allowed  to  see  the  inner  working  of 
this  great  Hospital  only  a  few  weeks  after  it  had 
been  opened. 

From  the  very  beginning  the  Hospital  was  en- 
tirely under  the  control  of  Sir  James  Clark,  Chief 
Commissioner  of  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Bri- 
gade, and  it  has  been  entirely  maintained  by  sub- 
scriptions given  direct  to  it. 

It  is,  in  fact,  the  modern  outcome  of  the  won- 
derful work  which  was  founded  by  the  Knights 
of  St.  John  in  the  Eleventh  Century.  A  flag  of 
the  same  device  as  that  which  they  flew  in  those 
days  floats  now  over  the  Brigade  Hospital,  and 


Outdoor    uniform    of     a     Com- 
mandant  of   V.A.D. 


RED  CEOSS  IN  FRANCE  159 

the  entire  staff  of  the  Hospital  are  men  and  women 
who  are  closely  connected  with  the  St.  John  Ambu- 
lance Brigade,  which  forms  a  very  important  part 
of  the  Ambulance  Department  of  the  Order  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem  in  England. 

In  the  vast  majority  of  cases  members  of  the 
Brigade  are  also  members  of  Voluntary  Aid  De- 
tachments, so  that  in  writing  about  V.A.D.  work 
in  France  it  would  be  quite  wrong  not  to  make 
some  reference  to  the  work  of  this  Hospital,  which 
is  said  by  the  Military  authorities  to  be  one  of 
the  finest  in  France. 

In  some  respects  its  equipment  is  better  than 
any  other,  and  its  staff  has  been  chosen  with  such 
extreme  care  that  the  working  of  the  whole  place 
goes  on  oiled  wheels. 

The  site  on  which  the  Hospital  stands  is  a  beau- 
tiful one,  for  it  occupies  a  large  area  on  sand- 
dunes  which  rise  some  little  way  behind  the  sea- 
shore. The  wards  are  large  huts  which  will  ac- 
commodate some  thirty  beds,  and  at  the  end  of 
each  ward  there  is  a  small  kitchen  and  all  lavatory 
arrangements,  with  a  clever  ventilation  shaft,  as 
it  were,  between  the  ward  and  its  kitchen  and  the 
sanitary  portion.  All  the  wards  are  connected 
by  wooden  corridors,  which  are  open  at  the  sides 
but  have  roofs,  so  that  the  nurses  and  orderlies 
are  always  under  cover  when  they  pass  from  one 
part  of  the  Hospital  to  another. 

JThe  quarters  for  the  Matron  and  Sisters  occupy 


160    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

one  long  building,  whilst  a  smaller  one  is  given 
over  to  the  V.A.D.  nurses.  The  orderlies  also 
have  excellent  quarters  across  the  road,  and  there 
is  a  nice  building  which  accommodates  the  medi- 
cal staff. 

There  are  580  beds  in  the  Hospital,  and  about 
fifty-two  fully  trained  Sisters  are  employed,  with 
a  staff  of  twenty-four  V.A.D.  members  under 
them.  The  food  is  all  cooked  by  orderlies,  but 
the  parlour-maid  and  housemaid  work  is  entirely 
undertaken  by  V.A.D.  members. 

The  Hospital,  which  is  now  in  charge  of  Lt.- 
Col.  Trimble,  R.A.M.C.,  who  has  for  many  years 
been  an  enthusiastic  St.  John  worker  in  Lanca- 
shire, is  run  on  extremely  economical  lines,  the 
Matronship  being  held  by  Miss  Constance  Tod, 
R.R.C. 

Lt.-Col.  Trimble,  in  speaking  of  the  nursing 
staff,  says:  ** After  my  experience  in  this  Hos- 
pital I  can  safely  say  that  no  body  of  women  could 
have  discharged  their  duties  in  a  more  conscien- 
tious, kind  and  painstaking  manner  than  the 
trained  Sisters  who  have  served  with  us.  They 
have  really  been  most  self-denying  in  every  pos- 
sible way  in  the  interests  of  the  patients  placed 
under  their  charge."' 

**I  would  just  like  to  add  a  word  respecting  our 
V.A.D.  members.  All  who  have  come  to  us  have 
had  their  minds  made  up  to  make  themselves  use- 
ful in  every  way  possible.    Our  rule  has  been  that 


RED  CROSS  IN  FRANCE  161 

these  girls  have  had  to  manage  the  Sisters'  Mess. 
They  have  had  to  keep  it  tidy,  serve  the  meals,  and 
do  general  washing  up,  having  a  couple  of  order- 
lies to  assist  them. 

**  With  regard  to  their  work  in  the  wards  I  have 
no  words  of  praise  that  would  quite  meet  what 
they  have  done.  Many  of  them  had  considerable 
nursing  experience  in  other  Hospitals  before  com- 
ing to  us.    Others  had  little  or  none. 

** After  a  year  and  a  half's  work  there  are  many 
of  our  V.A.D.  members  whom  I  consider  very 
capable  nurses,  and  so  good  are  they  that  it  is  an 
everyday  occurrence  that  these  girls  are  placed 
in  absolute  charge  of  wards,  both  medical  and 
surgical. 

**It  would  be  superfluous  to  comment  upon  the 
manner  in  which  their  work  has  been  discharged, 
but  I  can  safely  say  that  no  body  of  girls  could 
have  entered  more  thoroughly  or  seriously  into 
their  duties,  with  the  result  that  the  work  is  ex- 
cellently done  in  every  respect.  The  trained  Sis- 
ters now  acknowledge  that  they  have  found  the 
V.A.D.  members  very  helpful  associates  and  most 
agreeable  companions.  The  patients  love  and  re- 
spect them,  for,  like  the  trained  Sisters,  they  have 
been  more  than  conscientious  in  everything  they 
have  done." 

That  the  work  of  these  girls  has  been  exception- 
ally good  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  twelve  of  them 
have  been  honoured  by  the  Order  of  St.  John  of 


162    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Jerusalem  by  being  made  Honorary  Serving  Sis- 
ters of  that  Order.  This  distinction  is  only  given 
after  very  careful  consideration  by  the  Chapter 
of  the  Order,  and  then  cannot  be  bestowed  without 
the  approval  of  the  King. 

Quite  a  number  of  distinguished  people  have 
taken  regular  work  in  this  Hospital,  amongst  them 
being  Lady  Perrott,  R.R.C.,  Lady  Superintend- 
ent-in-Chief  of  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Brigade. 
From  the  day  war  was  declared  Lady  Perrott  has 
worked  unceasingly,  but  necessarily,  from  her  po- 
sition in  the  Brigade,  a  great  deal  of  it  has  had  to 
be  administrative  work  discharged  from  Head- 
quarters. 

Happily  she  knows  the  work  practically  as  well 
as  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  Chief,  and  on  va- 
rious occasions  she  has  taken  the  place  of  a  V.A.D. 
member  in  Hospitals  in  England  as  well  as  in  the 
Brigade  Hospital  in  France. 

In  the  latter  she  worked  regularly  for  some 
time,  and  this  was  a  matter  of  congratulation  to 
all  those  who  love  the  Brigade,  and  who  know  quite 
well  that  its  usefulness  to  the  nation  has  depended 
not  a  little  upon  the  fact  that  every  one  of  its  mem- 
bers, from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  has  to  be  fully 
qualified  in  those  arts  of  First  Aid  and  elementary 
nursing  which  may  well  be  called  the  backbone  of 
all  ambulance  work. 

There  is  something  very  poetic  and  very  fine 
in  having  a  great  Hospital  in  France  run  entirely 


EED  CROSS  IN  FRANCE  163 

under  the  auspices  of  the  Brigade,  with  the  Chief 
Commissioner  at  the  helm,  with  the  Lady  Super- 
intendent-in- Chief  working  there  regularly  for  a 
time,  and  with  every  post  filled  by  Brigade  mem- 
bers. This  gives  another  aspect  of  V.A.D.  work 
of  which  no  more  need  be  said,  for  much  can  be 
read  between  the  lines  by  those  who  are  inter- 
ested. 

In  connection  with  the  Brigade  Hospital  in 
France  there  has  now  been  opened  a  Depot  in  Lon- 
don, where  all  sorts  of  Hospital  equipment  will  be 
made.  Halkyn  House,  Belgrave  Square,  has  most 
generously  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  La- 
dies' Committee  of  the  Order  of  St.  John  by  Earl 
Beauchamp,  and  the  work  of  making  bandages 
and  dressings  will  be  carried  out  there  on  a  very 
extensive  scale. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Best  Stations  in  Feance. 

AS  one  steps  off  the  Channel  boat  on  to  Bou- 
XjL  logne  Quai,  the  first  thing  to  strike  one  for- 
cibly is  the  change  which  war  has  brought  about 
in  the  French  town.  There  are  still  a  few  French 
porters  running  about  in  their  blue  smocks;  but 
they  are  all  old  men  or  exceedingly  young  ones, 
and  to  every  Frenchman  there  are  at  least  two 
English  Tommies,  or  so  it  seems. 

The  wearing  of  a  recognized  Red  Cross  uniform 
smooths  the  way  for  one  extraordinarily  so  far 
as  the  Customs  are  concerned  because  the  authori- 
ties know  quite  well  that  every  member  who  is  sent 
out  is  put  on  his  or  her  honour  only  to  carry  legiti- 
mate articles. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  war  there  was  a 
wonderful  Stationary  Hospital  which  the  Military 
authorities  had  built  up  in  goods  sheds  close  to  the 
Quai,  and  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  allowed  to  go 
through  it. 

The  Stationary  Hospitals  now  employ  many 
V.A.D.  members ;  but  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
military  hospital  work  was  entirely  carried  out 
by  Military  Sisters  and  R.A.M.C.  officers  and  men. 
It  was  perfectly  wonderful  to  see  how  these  old 

164 


EEST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        165 

sugar  sheds  had  been  converted  into  a  good,  clean, 
cheery  Hospital. 

In  the  entrance  there  sat  a  non-comn^issioned 
officer,  who  took  down  the  particulars  of  each  case 
as  it  was  brought  in  and  assigned  to  it  a  bed  in  a 
special  ward.  The  stretcher-bearers  would  then 
take  the  case  on  and  would  put  the  patient  to  bed 
with  the  assistance,  if  necessary,  of  one  of  the 
Army  Sisters. 

In  the  first  shed,  which  had  been  turned  into  a 
great  ward,  there  were  rows  upon  rows  of  beds. 
The  shed  had  been  whitewashed,  and  on  the  walls 
there  were  pinned  coloured  pictures  from  the 
**  Christmas  Annual, '*  conspicuous  amongst  them 
being  several  portraits  of  the  King  and  Queen. 
At  one  end  of  the  ward  there  were  tables  strewn 
with  magazines  and  games,  where  the  convales- 
cent men  could  amuse  themselves,  and  at  the  other 
end  a  portion  was  cut  off  as  a  dispensary  and 
dressing  room,  where  ^* walking'^  cases  could  come 
for  re-dressing. 

Turning  to  the  right,  there  was  a  very  large 
ward  devoted  to  the  saddest  of  all  the  cases,  as 
it  seems  to  me — to  the  men  who  had  suffered  in- 
jury to  the  eyes.  The  light  here  was  kept  very 
dim,  but  many  of  the  men  were  chatting  together, 
and  the  Sisters  seemed  to  be  particularly  cheery. 

Another  portion  of  the  Hospital  was  given  over 
to  the  men  who  had  been  gassed.  It  made  one's 
heart  ache  to  see  them  gasping  for  breath,  but  it 


166    BRITAIN  ^S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

was  good  to  hear  that  many  new  remedies  had 
been  discovered,  which  made  the  percentage  of 
recoveries  very  much  larger  than  they  were  at 
first. 

During  the  advances  after  the  terrible  retreat 
this  Hospital  was  crowded  out;  so  much  so  that 
one  of  the  Army  Sisters  told  me  she  had  often 
seen  a  stretcher  with  a  patient  upon  it  under  every 
bed.  The  Doctors  and  the  Sisters  and  the  entire 
staff  worked  night  and  day  during  these  pushes, 
and  all  honour  to  them  be  it  said  that  they  kept 
their  Hospital  up  to  a  high  standard  of  efficiency, 
and  that  they  themselves  remained  optimistic  and 
undismayed. 

At  that  time  Boulogne  was  in  a  very  different 
position,  from  the  military  point  of  view,  from 
what  it  is  to-day,  and  they  never  knew  from  one 
moment  to  another  what  orders  might  come 
through  about  a  general  evacuation. 

This  is  but  a  glimpse  at  a  Military  Hospital, 
for  it  has  no  direct  bearing  on  the  work  about 
which  I  am  writing;  but  I  could  not  pass  it  by 
without  adding  an  humble  word  of  appreciation. 
This  particular  Military  Hospital  is  only  typical 
of  the  huge  numbers  which  exist  all  over  France 
and  England,  and  no  poor  words  of  mine  can  give 
any  adequate  idea  of  the  amount  of  self-sacrifice 
which  has  been  put  into  the  upkeep  of  these  Hos- 
pitals by  the  devoted  men  and  women  who  staff 
them. 


REST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        167 

Across  the  wide,  cobble-stoned  road  we  make 
our  way  to  the  big  railway  station  in  Boulogne, 
which  is  the  parent,  as  it  were,  of  all  Rest  Stations 
in  France. 

In  the  very  early  days,  when  things  were  still 
chaotic,  a  little  band  of  V.A.D.  members  under 
the  command  of  Mrs.  Furse,  R.R.C.  (who  has  since 
become  Commandant-in-Chief),  established  by 
permission  of  the  Military  authorities  a  Rest  Sta- 
tion there. 

During  the  great  advances,  when  we  get  thou- 
sands of  wounded,  many  of  them  happily  being  of 
a  minor  character,  the  regular  Hospital  trains 
cannot  possibly  carry  them  all.  The  rail  heads 
(the  furthest  points  to  which  the  railways  can 
run  near  the  firing  line)  become  choked  up  with 
wounded  men,  and  the  first  necessity  is  to  get  rid 
of  them  and  send  them  down  to  the  Base  Hos- 
pitals. 

There  is  a  system  in  the  Army  by  which  every 
wounded  man  wears  a  distinctive  label  to  show 
whether  his  wound  is  serious  or  not.  The  serious 
cases  are  put  at  once  on  the  regular  Ambulance 
trains,  which  are  most  wonderfully  fitted  up  with 
an  operating  theatre  and  kitchens,  and  which  carry 
three  Medical  Ofiicers,  three  fully  trained  Sisters, 
and  a  great  many  R.A.M.C.  orderlies.  The  road 
is  more  or  less  cleared  by  the  railway  authorities 
for  these  Ambulance  trains,  and  they  make  the 
Journey  down  to  the  Base  in  fairly  good  time. 


168    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

But  what  is  to  be  done  with  the  thousands  of 
** walking"  cases  which  cannot  be  put  upon  Ambu- 
lance trains  ?  They  are  men  with  wounds  of  very- 
divers  character,  some  of  them  very  slight,  some 
of  them  severe,  but  none  vital  nor  likely  to  become 
dangerous  to  life.  They  have  all  been  dressed 
either  at  a  Field  Dressing  Station  or  at  a  Casualty 
Clearing  Hospital. 

They  are  put  on  an  ordinary  train  in  the  charge 
of  one  Medical  Officer,  who  has  with  him  a  staff 
of  R.A.M.C.  orderlies.  The  train  is  rationed,  and 
it  is  sent  off  on  its  journey.  This  journey  may 
take  many  hours,  and  in  order  to  give  the  men  a 
chance  of  a  hot  drink  and,  where  necessary,  of 
having  their  wounds  re-dressed.  Rest  Stations 
have  been  set  up  at  various  junctions,  where  the 
train  can  halt  for  something  under  an  hour  and 
the  men  receive  attention. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  wrong  to  say  that  the  Rest 
Station  work  in  France  is  the  pride  of  the  V.A.D. 
Headquarters  Staff,  because  it  is  invidious  to  pick 
out  any  one  kind  of  work  and  say  that  it  is  better 
than  another ;  but  it  is  true  that  the  members  who 
work  on  French  railway  Rest  Stations  have  had 
to  cope  with  emergencies,  improvise  all  sorts  of 
articles  almost  out  of  nothing,  meet  unheard-of 
difficulties  with  calmness  and  promptness,  and 
have  lived  under  harder  conditions,  perhaps,  than 
any  others  who  are  at  work  in  France, 


REST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        169 

The  First  Unit  to  Go  Abroad. 

It  was  on  October  16th,  1914,  that  a  Unit,  com- 
posed of  sixteen  members  and  two  trained  nurses 
drawn  from  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments,  was 
mobilized  for  foreign  service,  and  went  out  under 
the  charge  of  Mrs.  Furse.  First  of  all  the  Unit 
was  sent  to  Paris,  and  then  it  was  returned  to  Bou- 
logne, one  more  trained  nurse  and  two  members 
being  added  to  its  strength. 

Accommodation  in  the  town  was  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  find,  and  on  October  26th  the  Unit  took  over 
three  French  wagons  and  two  passenger  car- 
riages, turning  them  into  a  dispensary,  a  kitchen, 
and  a  Quartermaster's  store,  the  members  them- 
selves doing  all  the  necessary  scrubbing,  cleaning, 
and  painting.  This  was  no  light  task,  as  can  be 
imagined  when  you  remember  the  condition  in 
which  French  railway  wagons  are  likely  to  be. 

Within  twenty-four  hours  one  thousand 
wounded  men  had  been  fed,  the  cooks  having  only 
three  small  alcohol  stoves  with  which  to  work. 
Into  this  one  sentence  is  compressed  a  long  and 
wonderful  story  of  what  can  be  done  by  a  devoted 
band  of  women.  Perhaps  to  the  reader  it  does 
not  sound  very  much ;  but  turn  your  mind  for  one 
moment  to  what  really  must  have  happened  dur- 
ing those  twenty-four  hours. 

It  could  not  have  been  easy  to  get  the  food,  to 
begin  with.    Utensils  would  be  scarce ;  the  heating 


170    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

of  enormous  quantities  of  water  on  three  small 
alcohol  stoves  presents  a  difficulty  in  itself  which 
would  appall  many  of  us.  It  was  October,  and 
the  weJather  would  not  be  too  warm;  and  the 
amount  of  physical  exertion  in  running  about  col- 
lecting the  necessary  equipment,  and  then  of  dis- 
tributing the  food  to  one  thousand  wounded  men, 
would  be  strenuous,  to  say  the  least  of  it. 

**In  order  to  cope  adequately  with  the  great 
volume  of  work,  stoves  were  fitted  into  the  wag- 
ons during  the  following  days,  and  various 
shelves  and  cupboards  were  put  up  by  the  mem- 
bers." 

That  is  as  the  official  report  puts  it;  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact  those  wagons  were  turned  into 
really  charming  rooms,  bright  with  clean  white 
paint,  gleaming  tin  utensils,  and  even  with  com- 
fortable chairs  made  out  of  barrels.  It  was,  in 
fact,  a  triumph  of  improvisation. 

As  though  they  had  not  already  got  their  hands 
sufficiently  full,  the  R.T.O.  (Railway  Transport 
Officer)  asked  the  Unit  if  it  could  billet  nightly  any 
sick  men  requiring  shelter.  The  work  was  under- 
taken immediately,  and  the  men  were  put  into  rail- 
way carriages  whenever  they  needed  accommoda- 
tion for  the  night. 

After  working  for  one  week  an  abnormal  num- 
ber of  wounded  began  to  arrive,  and  on  Monday, 
November  2nd,  the  resources  of  the  Unit  were 
taxed  to  the  utmost,  2,300  wounded  being  fed  dur- 


BEST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        171 

ing  the  day,  and  over  200  dressings  being  done 
in  the  wagons  by  the  Sisters  with  the  help  of 
two  members  and  three  other  trained  nurses  who 
had  been  hastily  called  for  the  emergency. 

The  authorities  saw  that  more  facilities  must  be 
given  for  the  work,  and  on  the  following  day  two 
more  wagons  were  supplied,  one  to  act  as  a  re- 
serve store  and  one  for  the  use  of  the  staff,  and 
a  general  Dressing  Station  was  erected  by  the 
platform.  The  sanitary  arrangements  were  im- 
proved, and  a  motor  Ambulance  was  put  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Unit,  one  of  the  members  being 
appointed  as  driver. 

Boy  Orderlies. 

Eight  boy  orderlies  from  an  East  Lancashire 
V.A.D.  were  attached  to  this  Unit,  with  an  orderly 
Superintendent  and  two  orderly  Quartermasters, 
and  proved  themselves  to  be  of  invaluable  assist- 
ance. 

During  those  first  weeks  the  Unit  seems  to  have 
gone  out  of  its  way  to  look  for  work,  although  it 
must  have  been  overwhelmed  by  it  already.  It 
took  in,  sorted,  and  distributed  hundreds  of  mag- 
azines biweekly  to  fourteen  Hospitals.  It  under- 
took to  make  sand-bags,  bandages  and  pad  splints 
for  many  of  the  Military  Hospitals,  which  were 
then  in  urgent  need  of  these  things,  as  the  War 
Depots  at  home  had  not  got  into  full  going  order. 
Ever  since  then  a  very  large  number  of  dressings 


172    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

and  padded  splints  have  been  turned  out  by  the 
members  of  the  Boulogne  Rest  Station. 

The  food  which  was  supplied  to  the  wounded 
consisted  of  soup,  cocoa,  bread  and  butter,  ham, 
cheese,  chocolate,  apples  and  bananas.  Hundreds 
of  medical  and  surgical  cases  have  been  dealt  with 
by  the  Sisters,  and  the  one  Ambulance  attached  to 
the  Unit  has  conveyed  a  huge  number  of  cases 
to  and  from  Hospitals. 

At  Christmas  time  presents  were  given  to  every 
one  of  the  men  travelling  on  Ambulance  trains, 
and  thousands  of  cigarettes  and  papers  were  dis- 
tributed. A  very  large  number  of  sick  men  have 
been  billeted  on  the  Unit  for  single  nights,  and 
have  been  fed  and,  where  necessary,  given  skilled 
nursing. 

Members  who  go  out  to  France  as  V.A.D.  mem- 
bers are  expected  to  take  things  as  they  find  them, 
and  to  make  the  best  of  everything.  Discipline  is 
strict,  and  they  are  not  allowed  to  question  the 
decision  of  those  in  authority.  A  girl  may  be 
put  into  the  kitchen  and  do  nothing  but  cut  up 
vegetables  or  washing-up  for  weeks  together. 
There  is  a  sigh  of  contentment  from  the  members 
who  are  lucky  enough  to  be  put  **on  the  trains,'* 
as  it  is  called,  when  they  actually  help  in  the 
feeding  or  the  dressing  of  the  wounded  men; 
but  they  are  far  too  well  disciplined  to  make 
any  remark  as  to  their  private  wishes  on  the 
subject. 


REST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        173 

This  little  party  of  pioneers  set  the  pace,  as  it 
were,  in  the  matter  of  discipline,  and  it  has  been 
nobly  upheld  by  all  those  who  have  followed  in 
their  footsteps. 

Thousands  of  Dressings. 

This  first  Rest  Station  is  still  in  existence,  and 
an  enormous  amount  of  work  has  been  carried 
through  since  the  new  push  began  in  July,  1916. 
Some  rooms  in  the  station  have  been  given  up 
by  the  railway  authorities,  and  the  V.A.D.  mem- 
bers have  turned  them  into  a  delightful  suite  for 
Ambulance  work. 

There  is  a  kitchen,  where  several  members  cook 
meals  for  non-combatant  men,  such  as  R.A.M.C. 
orderlies,  who  are  sent  down  to  the  station  on 
various  kinds  of  work,  and  may  have  to  spend 
many  hours  there.  The  dispensary  is  most  beau- 
tifully fitted  up  with  bright  dressing  tins  and  one 
or  two  beds,  whilst  the  store  beyond  is  filled  with 
all  the  necessary  foodstuffs  used  for  the  wounded 
men. 

Great  ingenuity  has  been  used  by  these  mem- 
bers in  making  the  best  of  everything.  One  of 
them,  who  is  a  clever  carpenter,  has  evolved  a  most 
useful  truck  for  the  carrying  of  supplies  along  the 
platform  for  the  trains ;  whilst  several  other  mem- 
bers have  learnt  the  art  of  soldering,  and  con- 
stantly turn  condensed  milk  tins  into  admirable 
mugs. 


174    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

The  V.A.D.  members  who  come  out  from  Eng- 
land are  very  often  put  into  this  Rest  Station  for 
a  week  or  two  to  obtain  a  short  training  for  what- 
ever kind  of  work  they  may  eventually  have  to  do 
in  Prance. 

The  Rest  Station  is  never  closed  night  or  day, 
some  of  the  members  always  being  on  duty;  and 
it  is  very  often  in  the  night  hours  that  the  biggest 
rushes  occur.  Numbers  may  not  be  given,  but  ab- 
solutely thousands  of  dressings  have  been  carried 
out  here  (under  the  direction  of  M.O.  and  trained 
nurse),  and  tens  of  thousands  of  wounded  men 
have  been  fed. 

The  Opening  of  More  Rest  Stations. 

The  Military  authorities  expressed  themselves 
as  being  exceedingly  pleased  with  the  work  that 
had  been  done  at  the  Boulogne  Rest  Station,  and 
they  requested  that  other  Stations  should  be 
opened  on  the  Lines  of  Communication. 

In  England  comparatively  few  people  seem  to 
understand  what  these  Lines  mean,  but  in  France 
everybody  realises  that  the  '*L.  of  C'  are  some- 
thing of  great  Military  importance.  They  are, 
in  fact,  the  railway  lines  which  run  from  the  Bases 
to  the  Front. 

There  are  at  the  present  moment  several  of 
these  Rest  Stations  (or  Aid  Posts,  as  they  are 
sometimes  called)  in  full  working  order  at  various 
spots  on  the  Lines.    The  members  who  work  at 


^ 


Lady  District  Officer.  Com- 
mandant of  a  V.A.D.  has  the 
same  uniform,  except  the  belt  is 
white  instead  of  black. 


BEST  STATIONS  IN  FEANCE        175 

each  one  form  a  complete  Unit  with  a  Comman- 
dant in  charge. 

In  many  ways  the  work  at  these  Eest  Stations 
is  more  akin  to  that  which  the  Army  nurses  ex- 
perience at  a  Casualty  Clearing  Hospital  close 
behind  the  firing  line  than  anything  else.  How- 
ever hard  the  work  may  be  at  a  Hospital  at 
or  near  a  Base,  the  staff  usually  has  all 
necessary  utensils  supplied  to  it,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  personal  comfort  is  provided  for 
them. 

The  members  at  a  Eest  Station  have  to  live 
somewhere  near  their  work,  going  to  and  from 
the  Station  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night.  A 
railway  station  is  likely  to  be  an  extremely 
draughty,  cold  and  damp  place  during  the  winter 
months,  and  the  members  have  to  contend  with  a 
great  deal  of  dirt  coming  from  the  railway  en- 
gines. 

At  a  very  large  railway  junction  in  France  the 
second  Eest  Station  was  established  by  a  devoted 
little  party  of  V.A.D.  workers.  The  four  V.A.D. 
members  and  four  orderlies  were  shown  a  goods 
shed  and  told  that  that  was  to  be  their  Headquar- 
ters. It  was  a  dreary-looking  place,  extremely 
dirty,  and  part  of  it  was  cut  off  from  another  shed 
by  a  drooping  canvas  curtain. 

The  Commandant-in-charge,  a  most  excellent 
worker,  who  has  since  been  honoured  by  being 
Mentioned  in  Despatches,  set  to  work,  and  in  a 


176    BEITAIN^S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

very  few  hours  the  place  was  tidy  and  suitable  for 
the  reception  of  wounded  men. 

There  were  a  certain  number  of  Sawyer  stoves 
close  by,  where  tea  or  cocoa  could  be  made  for  the 
supply  of  the  men  in  the  improvised  Ambulance 
trains,  and  all  the  cases  that  could  walk  came  into 
the  Ambulance  room  for  re-dressing  by  the  trained 
Sister. 

Smart  Worh. 

There  was  something  almost  occult  about  the 
premonition  which  assailed  the  Commandant  one 
chilly  evening  when  she  refused  to  go  home  and 
leave  her  Second-in-command  in  charge  for  the 
night.  She  said  she  felt  sure  that  **  something 
was  going  to  happen."  They  waited  until  the 
early  hours  of  the  morning,  and  things  were  still 
absolutely  peaceful,  so  that  she  began  to  think  her 
premonition  was  all  nonsense. 

Suddenly  there  came  a  message  that  three  im- 
provised Ambulance  trains  would  be  coming  into 
the  station  in  a  couple  of  hours,  but  that  a  change 
of  traffic  arrangements  had  necessitated  their 
being  sent  in  on  a  line  far  away  from  the  Rest 
Station  room.  This  particular  railway  station  is 
a  huge  one,  resembling  Waterloo  or  Victoria,  and 
it  would  be  quite  impossible  to  carry  food  and 
drink  across  all  the  lines  to  the  train. 

There  was  only  one  thing  to  be  done.  The  en- 
tire Rest  Station  must  be  shifted.    History  does 


REST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        177 

not  record  what  the  orderlies  or  the  juniors  of 
the  Unit  thought  when  the  Commandant  calmly- 
announced  her  intention  that  the  Aid  Post,  root 
and  branch,  must  be  transplanted  to  the  other 
side  of  the  station.  But  this  is  where  discipline 
comes  in  triumphantly.  There  was  not  a  murmur 
of  dissent,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  a  glad  acquies- 
cence. 

There  is  something  peculiarly  exhilarating  in 
taking  part  in  a  quick  change.  The  railway  au- 
thorities gave  them  the  use  of  a  large  shed  which 
stood  at  siding  close  to  the  line  where  the  trains 
would  come  in.  Luckily  it  was  in  a  fairly 
clean  condition,  and  with  an  extra  run  round 
with  a  brush  and  pail  of  water  it  was  quite 
habitable. 

All  the  equipment,  which  had  been  improvised 
out  of  biscuit  tins,  kerosene  tins,  barrels  and 
boxes  of  every  shape  and  kind,  was  put  on  to  lor- 
ries and  trundled  across  the  lines.  Tables  and 
benches  were  set  up  in  position,  and  ration  box 
cupboards  were  placed  against  the  walls  of  the 
shed.  The  orderlies  managed  to  move  the  Saw- 
yer stoves  and  to  get  them  alight,  and  within  a 
couple  of  hours  no  one  could  have  guessed  that  the 
Aid  Post  had  not  existed  in  that  particular  spot 
for  the  last  year  or  so. 

It  was  a  magnificent  piece  of  generalship,  wor- 
thy of  the  highest  military  ability.  The  railway 
authorities  were  candidly  amazed  at  what  had 


178    BKITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

been  done,  for  it  seemed  little  less  than  miracu- 
lous. 

When  the  three  improvised  Ambulance  trains 
steamed  into  the  station,  one  after  the  other,  the 
little  Unit  of  V.A.D.  workers,  looking  calm  and 
dainty  in  their  clean  uniforms,  was  ready  to  serve 
out  steaming  cocoa  and  food  to  the  men  and,  under 
the  supervision  of  trained  nurses,  to  help  with 
some  hundreds  of  dressings. 

It  was  an  achievement  that  should  go  down  in 
the  annals  of  the  history  of  V.A.D.  work,  typical 
of  many  other  instances  of  the  same  kind  which 
cannot  be  mentioned  here,  but  showing  that  women 
can  rise  to  an  emergency  and  acquit  themselves 
creditably. 

It  was  at  this  Rest  Station  that  the  members 
had  cleverly  made  old  kerosene  cans  into  dirty 
dressing  utensils.  They  had  cut  lids  out  of  wood, 
putting  rope  handles  on  to  them,  and  fitting  them 
to  a  nicety.  Biscuit  tins  had  been  sterilized  and 
brightened  into  the  likeness  of  mirrors,  and  large 
bottles  had  been  obtained  for  the  contents  of  va- 
rious lotions. 

Everything  was  beautifully  marked  in  plain  red 
lettering,  and  the  exquisite  tidiness  of  the  place, 
the  whiteness  of  the  boards,  the  artistic  charm  of 
big  bowls  filled  with  flowers,  gave  one  a  sense  of 
rest  and  welcome. 

It  was  discovered  that  the  Sisters  on  the  regu- 
lar Ambulance  trains  experienced  great  difficulty 


EEST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        179 

in  getting  their  linen  washed  and  returned  to  them, 
as  they  never  knew  whether  their  trains  would 
stop  for  more  than  an  hour  at  a  time. 

The  Unit  at  this  big  Rest  Station,  knowing  that 
every  Ambulance  train  halted  there  on  every  one 
of  its  journeys,  offered  to  take  in  the  soiled  linen 
of  the  Sisters,  get  it  washed  and  counted,  and 
made  into  parcels  ready  for  them  on  their  return 
journey. 

This  has  been  a  bigger  work  than  would  appear, 
and  the  proportionate  amount  of  comfort  it  has 
brought  to  the  hard-worked  Sisters  is  extraor- 
dinary; for  life  on  an  Ambulance  train  is  more 
exciting  than  comfortable,  and  it  is  no  small  mat- 
ter to  have  the  added  discomfort  of  not  being  able 
to  get  clean  linen. 

Another  outside  job  which  is  undertaken  by  the 
Unit  is  the  keeping  of  a  library  of  books,  which 
are  lent  to  the  numbers  of  Tommies  who  are  sta- 
tioned round  about  the  junction.  In  their  spare 
time,  of  course,  the  girls  make  bandages  and  swabs 
for  the  neighboring  Hospitals;  and  tobacco  and 
cigarettes  are  kept  for  the  supply  of  soldiers  and 
sailors. 

A  Tiny  Unit  in  an  Out-of-the-Way  Spot, 

Another  of  these  rest  stations  was  established 
on  an  important  junction  of  railway  lines,  but  in 
a  very  out-of-the-way  French  village,  where  there 
was  only  one  tiny  epicerie  and  one  little  hotel. 


180    BKITAIN^S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

The  Unit  that  was  put  here  was  a  particularly 
small  one,  there  being  only  the  Commandant  and 
one  junior,  with  four  orderlies. 

The  doctor  attached  to  the  station  had  a  very 
long  round  and  could  not  be  there  constantly ;  and 
a  trained  Sister  was  only  sent  down  during  the 
big  rushes ;  for  these  highly  skilled  women  are  far 
too  valuable  to  be  employed  at  places  where  they 
may  have  many  weeks  of  slack  times  so  far  as 
wounded  are  concerned. 

In  these  cases  the  Commandant  who  is  put  in 
is  a  woman  of  experience,  who,  though  not  fully 
trained  in  the  sense  of  having  had  three  years' 
consecutive  Hospital  training,  has  spent  a  great 
deal  of  time  actually  in  Hospital  work,  and  is 
thoroughly  capable  of  dealing  with  accidents. 

Many  of  the  older  and  more  experienced  mem- 
bers are  quite  equal,  so  the  doctors  say,  to  nurses 
who  have  had  at  least  a  two  years'  training,  and 
it  is  these  women  who  are  put  into  the  important 
posts  where  they  have  a  good  deal  of  responsibil- 
ity on  their  shoulders. 

The  raw  V.A.D.,  who  has  taken  her  certificates 
since  the  war  began,  is  excellent  as  a  worker  under 
close  supervision ;  but  it  would  be  well  if  people 
did  not  run  away  with  the  idea  that  because  a 
woman  is  a  member  of  a  V.A.D.  Detachment  she 
must  be  very  much  an  amateur  in  the  matter  of 
nursing. 

I  am  simply  pointing  this  out  so  that  people 


EEST  STATIONS  IN  FEANCE        181 

may  not  imagine  for  one  moment  that  our 
wounded  men  are  ever  left  in  the  hands  of  un- 
skilled people,  for  that  is  never  the  case.  The 
Military  authorities  inspect  the  Rest  Stations  con- 
stantly and  ask  the  Commandants  all  sorts  of 
searching  questions. 

On  a  beautiful  summer  afternoon  the  Com- 
mandant of  one  of  the  Eest  Stations  had  allowed 
her  junior  and  some  of  her  orderlies  to  be  off  duty 
for  an  hour  or  two,  and  she  herself  was  calmly 
writing  letters  home,  when  an  important  man  of 
high  rank  in  military  circles  suddenly  walked  into 
the  Eest  Station  and  made  a  close  examination  of 
everything  there.  He  opened  cupboards,  he  looked 
into  dressing  tins,  he  enquired  closely  into  the 
commissariat  arrangements,  and  he  asked  a  hun- 
dred questions  as  to  what  would  be  done  if  certain 
circumstances  arose. 

^'Suppose  you  had  an  air  raid  here,"  he  said; 
**what  arrangements  have  you  made  for  dealing 
with  the  wounded!    You  have  only  one  bed  here." 

**I  have  arranged,"  said  the  Commandant,  **to 
have  the  use  of  an  Army  store  opposite  the  sta- 
tion, and  I  can  count  on  from  thirty  to  forty  mat- 
tresses which  could  be  put  into  the  store  within  a 
few  minutes.  We  have  hundreds  of  dressings 
ready  cut  up,  and  stores  of  lotions.  We  have 
plenty  of  candles  handy  if  there  should  be 
no  other  light.  We  have  tried  to  think  out  a 
plan  that  would  cope  with  every  emergency." 


182    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

** Suppose,  on  the  other  hand,"  said  the  genial 
Army  Inspector,  '*that,  instead  of  having  one  or 
two  improvised  Ambulance  trains,  there  arrived 
twice  or  three  times  as  many.  What  would  you 
do  for  food  for  them?" 

^'We  have  arranged  with  the  Army  Service 
Supply  Unit,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  '*We  can- 
not store  the  food  here,  hut  it  is  all  ready  across 
the  road,  and  the  men  know  that  we  might  need 
it  at  any  moment  of  the  day  or  night." 

That  is  the  kind  of  incident  that  is  constantly 
happening,  and  I  quote  the  little  scene  about  which 
I  was  told  in  order  to  show  what  a  close  eye  the 
Army  keeps  upon  these  voluntary  workers. 

Johs, 

V.A.D.  members  are  fond  of  taking  on  and  car- 
rying out  all  sorts  of  jobs  which  do  not  strictly 
belong  to  Red  Cross  work.  They  have  to  remem- 
ber the  laws  of  the  Geneva  Convention,  and  do  not 
do  any  work  for  combatants  in  their  duty  time, 
nor  spend  any  Red  Cross  funds  upon  them;  but 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  V.A.D.  member  from 
spending  her  leisure  time  in  holding  out  a  kindly 
hand  to  the  men  who  are  making  such  a  magnifi- 
cent fight  for  King  and  country. 

For  instance,  it  was  found  at  one  of  the  Rest 
Stations  that  the  men  on  a  troop  train  which  went 
through  there  every  evening  were  very  often 
parched  with  thirst  during  the  hot  nights.   Hence- 


EEST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        183 

forward  cans  of  cold  water  were  placed  at  inter- 
vals all  along  the  platform,  and  V.A.D.  members 
gave  drinks  to  the  men  or  filled  their  waiter- 
bottles. 

As  the  autumn  came  on  and  the  nights  grew 
chilly  the  cold  water  was  exchanged  for  boiling 
water,  and  the  dry  tea  carried  by  the  men  was 
turned  into  a  hot  drink,  to  their  great  delight. 

Picture  for  yourselves  a  long  troop  train  in  the 
station  on  a  pitch-dark  night  with  rain  falling 
fast,  or  a  clear,  crisp  night  with  several  inches  of 
snow  lying  upon  the  platform.  The  men,  with 
their  heads  encased  in  the  woollen  helmets  which 
they  love,  hang  in  little  clusters  out  of  the  windows 
of  the  train,  and  directly  they  catch  the  words, 
** Boiling  water,  boiling  water,''  shouted  by  an 
orderly,  fumble  for  their  canteens,  throw  in  a 
handful  of  tea,  and  eagerly  hold  the  can  out  for 
one  of  the  Red  Cross  workers  to  fill  it  with  boiling 
water. 

It  is  not  only  the  hot  drink  that  cheers  them  on, 
but  it  is  the  thought  and  the  kindliness  and  the 
cheery  word  which  gives  these  men,  who  are  then 
getting  very  near  to  the  firing  line,  a  last  glimpse 
of  English  womanhood,  and  of  the  love  which  lies 
in  the  hearts  of  all  true  women  for  their  dear 
fighting  men. 

Many  a  time  a  train  filled  with  Indian  troops 
has  halted  at  this  station,  and  the  Indians  have 
gladly  accepted  cold  water,  in  spite  of  their  old 


184    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

traditions,  from  the  English  nurses;  and  then, 
seizing  their  hands  to  shake,  have  said  in  their 
broken  English,  **I  fight  for  the  King.'* 

A  Tiny  Ccmteen, 

Another  of  the  odd  jobs  was  the  running  of  a 
canteen  at  one  of  these  Rest  Stations  for  the  Brit- 
ish Tommies  stationed  there.  This  again  they 
had  to  do  quite  unofficially. 

It  is  mentioned,  however,  to  show  that  V.A.D. 
workers  are  not  like  the  traditional  servant  who 
says,  **I  was  not  engaged  to  do  so  and  so."  Theirs 
is  precisely  the  opposite  point  of  view. 

They  go  out  first  of  all  to  attend  to  the  sick  and 
the  wounded,  but  directly  they  are  not  occupied 
in  this  direction  they  look  around  and  see  what 
else  there  is  to  be  done,  and  they  do  it  with  all 
their  heart  and  with  all  their  soul. 

A  little  shed  was  set  up  in  a  waste  strip  of 
ground  close  to  the  station,  and  was  equipped 
with  tables  and  benches,  stoves  and  cooking  uten- 
sils ;  and  the  girls  used  to  take  it  in  turns  to  get 
up  early  in  the  morning  and  go  down  to  make 
the  men  a  comfortable  breakfast,  men  who  had 
been  travelling  all  night  with  wounded  horses  and 
were  greatly  in  need  of  a  little  kindly  care. 

It  was  pathetic  to  see  how  these  men  appre- 
ciated having  a  talk  with  an  English  woman,  and 
perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  women 
who  minister  to  the  minds  of  the  men  who  are 


BEST  STATIONS  IN  FEANCE        185 

cut  off  from  their  homes  and  from  their  own 
women  folk  are  not  doing  a  less  ^* great''  job  than 
when  they  are  attending  to  the  men  who  have  been 
broken  in  battle. 

No  one  who  has  not  lived  on  the  Lines  of  Com- 
munication can  quite  understand  the  loneliness 
of  our  men  who  are  stationed  there.  A  French 
village  offers  but  little  entertainment  save  by  its 
cafes.  Occasionally  there  comes  a  Lena  Ashwell 
concert  party,  and  there  is  exceeding  joy,  for  the 
pleasure  which  these  parties  have  brought  into 
the  lives  of  the  men  behind  the  lines  cannot  be 
measured  in  words.  That,  however,  is  a  rare 
occurrence,  especially  for  the  men  who  are  sta- 
tioned in  a  tiny  village  where  there  are  no  big 
camps. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  any  idea  of  the  queer 
tasks  which  the  large-hearted  V.A.D.  members  un- 
dertake in  these  Outposts.  They  do  the  mending 
for  the  men;  in  one  case  they  do  the  soldering 
for  the  little  Hospital  near  by.  They  are  the  re- 
cipients of  all  sorts  of  sad  stories,  and  they  help 
to  pull  many  a  man  out  of  a  scrape.  In  some 
cases  they  manage  small  recreation  huts  for  the 
men. 

**You  are  as  good  as  a  mother  to  us,"  said  a 
lad  who  had  come  from  a  good  home,  but  had 
fallen  amongst  evil  companions,  and  was  rapidly 
dropping  into  bad  ways  when  he  was  suddenly 
brought  back  to  his  original  level  by  the  kindly 


186    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

interest  shown  in  him  by  a  V.A.D.  member  who 
was  on  the  wrong  side  of  thirty. 

A  private,  crouching  miserably  against  the  wall 
of  the  station  on  a  wild,  wet  night  in  winter,  was 
approached  by  a  V.A.D.  member.  He  told  her 
quite  frankly  that  he  was  a  prisoner,  and  was 
returning  after  having  undergone  twenty-eight 
days '  field  punishment.  His  guard,  knowing  that 
the  man  was  too  cowed  to  try  and  escape,  and 
having  money  in  his  pocket,  had  gaily  gone  up  the 
village  street  to  the  estaminet  to  get  a  drink ;  but 
the  wretched  prisoner  had  not  a  sou  in  the  world, 
and  had  somehow  missed  the  rations  which  should 
have  been  given  to  him. 

He  was  taken  into  the  warm,  lamp-lit  room  and 
given  a  good  square  meal.  The  hot  tea  put  new 
life  into  him,  and  gradually  the  food  began  to 
make  him  something  of  a  man  and  less  of  a  cow- 
ard. He  told  his  story  to  the  nurses,  and  vowed 
that  he  would  never  run  the  risk  of  getting  such 
a  punishment  again. 

He  still  had  a  long  journey  to  go  that  night  be- 
fore he  got  back  to  his  own  camp,  and  it  was  some 
time  before  his  guard  returned  to  look  after  him. 

These  are  the  things  that  a  woman  may  do  by 
the  dozen  when  she  has  the  proud  privilege  of 
working  on  the  L.  of  C.  in  France.  Such  stories 
could  be  multiplied  by  the  hundred,  but  this  one 
only  is  given  so  that  some  sort  of  glimpse  may 
be  gained  of  the  extra  work,  as  it  were,  which 


REST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        187 

is  being  faithfully  carried  out,  and  which  is  sel- 
dom spoken  of  by  V.A.D.  members. 

First  Aid  in  a  Hurry, 

At  all  the  Rest  Stations  injuries  are  constantly 
attended  to  for  the  soldiers  of  the  Allied  Armies ; 
for  wherever  great  numbers  of  troops  are  travel- 
ling by  train  there  naturally  must  occur  all  sorts 
of  accidents. 

** First  Aid  in  a  hurry,"  it  was  called  by  one 
Commandant,  who  devised  an  emergency  basket 
in  which  she  kept  every  kind  of  dressing  and  all 
necessary  utensils. 

A  troop  train  would  be  standing  in  the  station, 
when  perhaps  the  door  of  the  Ambulance  room 
would  fly  open  and  someone  would  announce  in 
French  or  English  that  there  was  an  accident  on 
the  train.  The  basket  would  be  caught  up  in 
one  hand,  and  a  kettle  of  boiling  water  in  the 
other,  and  within  one  minute  the  nurse  would  be 
in  the  railway  carriage  attending  to  the  injured 
man. 

Very  often  it  was  only  a  minor  accident  which 
might  easily  develop  into  a  serious  injury  if  left 
uncovered,  and  in  that  case  it  was  dressed,  and 
as  the  train  was  signalled  to  go  the  nurse  would 
leap  out  on  to  the  platform  and  smile  her  good- 
byes to  her  patient  and  his  comrades. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  a  man  were  seriously  hurt 
he  would  be  brought  into  the  Ambulance  room  and 


188    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

put  upon  the  bed  and  kept  there  until  he  had  been 
seen  by  the  Medical  Officer,  who  would  send  him 
down  to  the  Base  on  an  Ambulance.  Very  often 
patients  are  kept  all  night  in  these  Rest  Stations, 
men  who  are  taken  off  the  troop  trains  suffering 
from  illness  or  from  accident.  Soldiers  of  the 
Allied  Armies,  of  course,  are  attended  to  equally 
with  our  own. 

A  curious  thing  happened  one  night  in  a  Rest 
Station  when  a  British  soldier  was  brought  in 
by  the  Medical  Officer  from  a  train,  who  said  that 
the  man  was  suffering  from  a  broken  leg.  Within 
five  minutes  a  French  soldier  was  brought  in  also 
with  a  broken  leg!  The  French  and  Flemish  sol- 
diers have  First  Aid  rendered  and  are  then  dis- 
patched to  their  own  Military  Hospitals. 

The  one  predominant  feature  of  Rest  Station 
work  is  the  necessity  of  being  ready  instanta- 
neously for  anything  that  may  happen.  The  door 
is  flung  open  and  a  man  is  brought  in  suffering 
from  a  cut  on  the  scalp  caused  by  the  falling  of 
a  rifle  from  the  rack.  It  is  only  a  superficial 
wound,  but  it  must  be  dressed.  The  train  can  only 
remain  in  the  station  five  minutes,  and  the  man 
must  go  on  with  it  when  it  leaves. 

There  is  no  bustle,  but  the  hair  is  cut  away 
carefully  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  wound, 
which  is  thoroughly  washed  and  bound  up.  The 
man  is  escorted  back  to  his  carriage  by  an  orderly, 
well  within  the  five  minutes. 


REST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        189 

A  young  officer,  who  had  been  on  Salisbury  Plain 
during  the  hot  weather,  and  had  not  taken  any 
notice  of  the  fact  that  his  eyes  had  become  in- 
flamed with  the  dust,  went  out  to  France,  and  at 
Havre  managed  to  get  more  grit  into  his  eyes 
during  a  gust  of  wind.  On  his  way  up  in  the 
train  to  the  Front  a  M.O.  noticed  the  condition  of 
his  eyes,  and  having  done  the  journey  several 
times  before,  was  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  these 
Rest  Stations  existed  en  route. 

At  the  next  one  he  took  the  young  officer  with 
him  to  the  Ambulance  room  and  asked  for  the 
ophthalmic  case  which  is  in  every  Army  Field 
Pannier.  There  was  no  spare  time,  as  the 
train  might  go  on  at  any  moment.  The  V.A.D. 
member  produced  the  ophthalmic  case  instan- 
taneously, and  the  M.O.  put  a  certain  drug,  which 
would  reduce  the  inflammation,  into  the  officer's 
eyes. 

It  had  to  be  done  by  the  light  of  a  lamp,  and 
it  was  not  an  easy  operation  to  do  under  such 
hurried  circumstances;  but  it  was  done  success- 
fully, and  at  the  moment  the  train  began  to  move 
the  M.O.  and  the  officer  sprang  into  their  carriage. 

That  is  the  everyday  life  of  the  members  who 
are  stationed  at  an  Aid  Post;  but  the  routine  is 
roughly  broken  into  by  the  work  for  which  they 
were  placed  there — the  attending  to  wounded  men 
who  come  down  in  the  improvised  Ambulance 
trains. 


190    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

A  Big  Push  and  Its  Work, 

When  there  is  a  big  push  on  the  members  work 
day  and  night.  Thousands  of  gallons  of  cocoa 
are  made;  hundreds  of  loaves  of  bread  are  cut 
up,  and  jugs  upon  jugs  full  of  beef  essence  or  a 
milky  drink  are  distributed,  whilst  wounds  are  re- 
dressed by  the  hundred. 

At  one  of  the  Eest  Stations  it  was  found  that 
the  improvised  Ambulance  trains  always  came  in 
at  a  platform  which  was  several  lines  away  from 
the  Ambulance  room.  The  row  of  Sawyer  stoves 
had  been  set  upon  the  platform  where  the  trains 
rested,  but  everything  else  had  to  be  carried  across 
from  the  room,  and  this  always  had  to  be  done 
in  plenty  of  time  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  there 
being  goods  trains  on  the  lines  between  the  room 
and  the  ** cocoa  platform,"  as  it  came  to  be  called. 

A  complete  set  of  bottles  containing  lotions  was 
made  and  kept  in  a  box,  whilst  certain  biscuit 
tins,  sterilized  and  filled  with  dressings,  were  kept 
untouched,  ready  for  the  arrival  of  a  train. 
Chairs,  tables,  lamps,  mackintoshes,  a  small  ster- 
ilizer, cans  of  boiling  water,  basins,  washing  ma- 
terials and  all  the  other  paraphernalia  of  a  dress- 
ing station  used  to  be  carried  across  the  lines  to 
the  glass  shelter,  where  they  were  set  up  in  or- 
derly array. 

Everything  was  kept  closely  covered,  and  when 
it  came  to  the  moment  for  the  men  to  have  their 


Nursing  Sister's  and  V.A.D, 
member's  indoor  dress. 


EEST  STATIONS  IN  FEANCE       191 

wounds  dressed  everything  possible  was  done  to 
keep  them  sterile,  and  of  course  only  wounds  that 
were  urgently  needing  re-dressing  were  actually 
undone.  Everything  was  done  by  the  order  of 
the  Medical  Officer  on  the  train. 

The  serving  out  of  the  cocoa  and  food  was  sys- 
tematized, so  that  the  thousand-odd  men  each  re- 
ceived his  quantum  in  due  course,  there  being  left 
no  loophole  by  which  a  man  might  be  missed  over. 
Eighty  gallons  of  cocoa  were  made  for  each  train- 
load  of  wounded  men ;  and  when  it  is  remembered 
that  on  one  occasion  only  half  an  hour's  notice 
of  the  coming  of  a  train  was  given  to  the  Unit,  and 
yet  that  every  man  had  his  hot  drink  when  he  ar- 
rived, perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
Eest  Station  workers  have  not  been  altogether  a 
failure. 

Of  the  courage  of  the  men  who  come  down  in 
these  improvised  trains  one  would  like  to  say  just 
a  word,  since  the  people  in  England,  sjrmpathetic 
though  they  are,  can  have  no  real  conception  of 
what  things  are  like  out  in  France. 

It  is  no  unusual  sight  to  see  mud-stains  up  to 
the  men's  waists,  or  to  have  a  man  come  into 
one's  hands  for  the  dressing  of  a  wound  without 
a  whole  garment  upon  him.  When  the  men  have 
been  through  barbed  wire  they  come  down  liter- 
ally with  their  clothes  torn  off  them;  and  it  has 
been  known  for  a  V.A.D.  member,  whilst  pinning 
the  remnants  together  with  safety  pins,  to  ask 


192    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

whicli  particular  article  of  attire  it  was  she  was 
handling. 

Optimistic,  courageous  under  their  sufferings, 
unselfish  in  the  extreme,  the  men  are  never  heard 
to  grumble  at  their  hard  lot,  but  will  always  try 
to  induce  the  nurse  to  **0h,  do  him,  Sister;  he  is 
worse  than  I  am." 

Their  gratitude  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
service  rendered.  Many  a  time  a  V.A.D.  member 
has  had  to  choke  back  her  tears  when  words  of 
thankfulness  have  been  brokenly  uttered  by  the 
wounded  men.  In  reply  she  would  say,  *^It  is 
nothing  to  what  you  have  done  for  us.  If  you 
had  not  put  up  such  a  fine  fight  we  should  have 
been  in  the  same  position  as  the  poor  women  are 
to-day  in  Lille  and  the  Belgian  towns." 

It  is  difficult  to  leave  the  subject  of  Rest  Sta- 
tion work,  for  there  is  a  great  deal  to  be  said 
about  it.  It  has  a  fascination  all  its  own,  because 
it  does  not  run  on  the  regular  lines  laid  down  by 
Hospital  work.  It  leaves  many  an  opening  for 
the  woman  who  has  imagination  and  ingenuity 
and  capacity.  It  gives  her  an  opportunity  of 
using  her  hands  and  her  brain.  The  woman  who 
can  do  a  bit  of  amateur  carpentering  and  uphol- 
stering is  as  invaluable  at  a  Rest  Station  as  the 
one  who  can  play  an  accompaniment  at  sight  or 
by  ear,  or  can  turn  her  hand  to  laundry  work  or 
cooking. 

Officers  as  well  as  men  very  often  are  attended 


EEST  STATIONS  IN  FEANCE        193 

to  at  Rest  Stations,  for  it  frequently  happens  that 
they  suffer  minor  injuries  or  become  ill  whilst 
on  the  long  journeys  in  France,  and  then  it  is  that 
they  turn  thankfully  to  the  bare  Station  rooms 
which  have  been  touched  into  homeliness  by  the 
women  of  their  own  country. 

There  are  many  sides  to  the  life  of  a  Eest  Sta- 
tion, and  it  is  as  well  that  most  of  the  people  who 
are  connected  with  them  seem  to  have  an  abundant 
sense  of  humor.  They  are  brought  so  much  up 
against  the  tragedies  of  war  that  life  would  be 
well-nigh  impossible  if  they  did  not  get  some  relief. 

At  one  of  the  Eest  Stations  it  happened  that 
an  officer,  who  had  had  to  get  down  from  his  train, 
was  horrified  to  see  it  on  the  move,  and  in  trying 
to  catch  it  slipped  from  the  footboard  and  fell 
into  a  huge  heap  of  soot.  It  probably  saved  his 
life,  but  the  soot  was  of  such  an  affectionate  na- 
ture that  it  effectually  hid  his  identity,  and  when 
he  was  picked  up  in  a  semi-conscious  condition 
and  carried  into  the  Eest  Station  in  the  gloom  of 
night  it  was  thought  that  he  belonged  to  the  col- 
oured race. 

He  had  suffered  a  slight  scalp  wound,  which 
was  attended  to  immediately,  and  his  clothes  were 
so  completely  smothered  with  the  soot  that  they 
were  gingerly  removed  by  an  orderly  and  taken 
away,  who  folded  them  together  without  disturb- 
ing them,  so  as  to  prevent  the  smuts  from  flying 
about. 


194    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Imagine  the  astonishment  of  the  nurses  when 
they  came  to  wash  the  man's  face  and  hands  and 
found  that  he  was  white !  They  were  still,  how- 
ever, under  the  impression  that  he  was  a  Tommy, 
and  were  not  a  little  dismayed  when  the  orderly 
came  in  the  morning  and  said  that  he  had  been 
cleaning  the  clothes  and  had  discovered  that  the 
patient  was  an  officer. 

It  seems  that  after  he  had  regained  conscious- 
ness he  heard  somebody  say  that  they  thought  he 
was  a  coloured  man,  and  he  was  so  indignant  that 
he  made  up  his  mind  not  to  speak.  It  is  possible 
that  his  temper  was  not  improved  by  being  treated 
as  a  Tommy  by  the  orderly ! 

In  the  morning,  however,  he  had  regained  his 
sense  of  humour  and  laughed  heartily  at  the  whole 
thing.  He  was  very  grateful  for  the  attention 
he  had  received  and  never  failed  to  call  upon  the 
members  when  he  happened  to  be  passing  through 
that  particular  Station. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  any  adequate  notion  of 
the  widely  different  bits  of  work  that  are  under- 
taken by  Rest  Station  members.  They  hold  out 
a  helping  hand  at  the  crucial  moment,  and  the  only 
unsatisfactory  part  of  the  work  is  that  they  sel- 
dom hear  the  end  of  the  story. 

Occasionally  news  comes  to  them,  as  in  the  case 
of  a  man  who  was  very  terribly  injured  in  a  train 
accident,  and  whose  life  was  saved  by  the  prompt 
seizing  of  the  arteries  by  a  V.A.D.  member.    He 


BEST  STATIONS  IN  FRANCE        195 

had  to  be  taken  down  to  the  Base,  and  she  says 
she  will  never  forget  the  journey  of  thirty-odd 
miles  over  terribly  bad  roads ;  but  he  was  got  to 
the  Hospital  in  fairly  good  condition,  an  opera- 
tion was  performed,  and  later  on  they  heard  that 
the  man  had  been  sent  to  England  minus  a  hand, 
but  otherwise  perfectly  well. 

Perhaps  a  young  officer  who  had  some  sort  of 
help  from  a  Rest  Station  put  the  thing  into  a  nut- 
shell when  he  quoted, 

"  Ships  that  pass  in  the  night,  speak  one  another  in  passing. 
Only  a  signal  shown — a  distant  voice  in  the  darkness ; 
So  on  the  Ocean  of  Life,  we  speak  and  pass  one  another. 
Only  a  voice  and  a  look,  then  darkness  again  and  a  silence." 

It  may  be  only  a  word  or  a  cup  of  cold  water, 
or  it  may  be  the  saving  of  a  life  by  skilled  atten- 
tion; but  the  loftiest  ideals  of  V.A.D.  work  can 
be  reached  up  to  at  any  one  of  the  Aid  Posts, 
where  the  conditions  of  life  are  hard,  where  the 
members  often  live  on  Army  rations  and  become 
veritably  a  bit  of  the  Army,  where  they  plod 
through  snow  and  mud  far  up  the  **  permanent 
way,''  taking  big  risks  of  getting  caught  by  a 
train  in  the  darkness  of  the  night;  but  theirs  is 
the  privilege,  the  high  honour  of  being  allowed  to 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  ancient  Knights  of 
St.  John,  who  took  unto  themselves  the  fine  old 
Latin  motto,  ^^Pro  utilitate  hominum." 


CHAPTER  XVn 

Detention  Hospitals  in  France. 

ABIT  of  V.A.D.  work  which  is  very  little 
known  of  by  the  general  public  is  that 
which  is  admirably  carried  on  in  the  small  Deten- 
tion Hospitals  that  lie  behind  the  Lines  of  Com- 
munication. Civilians  seem  to  have  no  under- 
standing of  how  war  is  engineered  from  the  back. 
They  apparently  often  forget  that  the  man  in  the 
firing  line  has  to  be  fed  and  clothed  and  mounted 
by  comrades  who  are  gathered  together  in  great 
camps  between  the  Front  and  the  ports. 

It  is  a  hard,  dull  life  that  is  lived  by  these  men, 
who  are  put  down  in  out-of-the-way  country  dis- 
tricts, sometimes  far  from  any  town,  where  they 
have  to  contend  with  oceans  of  mud  and  all  sorts 
of  depressing  conditions. 

During  this  last  winter,  at  one  of  the  big  camps, 
they  have  actually  had  to  have  boats  out  to  get 
over  the  floods.  That  one  remark  conveys  a  whole 
history  of  miseries  and  discomforts  to  those  who 
have  lived  amongst  the  men  who  work  in  these 
camps.  Yet  they  are  cheery  and  bright,  though 
many  of  them  may  be  heard  to  regret  that  they 
have  been  put  behind  the  lines  instead  of  up  in 
the  trenches. 

196 


DETENTION  HOSPITALS  197 

Naturally  sickness  sometimes  com^s  upon  these 
men,  and  as  they  are  all  horse  camps  of  one  kind 
or  another,  there  are  very  often  accidents  and  in- 
juries which  necessitate  skilled  attention.  It  is 
for  this  purpose  that  the  Detention  Hospitals  have 
been  established.  They  are  not  intended  for  the 
wounded  from  the  firing  line. 

At  the  moment  of  writing  there  are  two  of  these 
Hospitals,  one  of  them  being  run  by  a  B.R.C.S. 
Unit  and  the  other  by  a  St.  John  Unit.  In  both 
cases  commodious  French  villas  were  leased  in 
small  towns  which  were  near  several  very  large 
camps.  The  Hospitals  thus  serve  some  thousands 
of  men,  and  are  truly  looked  upon  as  havens  of 
rest  and  joy. 

Many  elderly  men  are  accepted  for  service  in 
these  camps,  and  during  very  wet  weather  they 
are  apt  to  suffer  from  rheumatism  or  from  bron- 
chial troubles.  Then  there  are  accident  cases  and 
all  sorts  of  minor  ailments.  The  men  may  only 
be  kept  in  these  small  Hospitals  for  a  certain  time, 
and  if  they  are  not  recovered  by  then  they  are 
sent  down  to  a  Military  Base  Hospital. 

The  entire  work  of  the  Hospital  is  carried  out 
by  V.A.D.  members.  A  Commandant  is  in  charge 
of  the  staff  and  the  housekeeping  and  general 
management  of  the  Hospital,  whilst  there  is  a 
fully  trained  Sister  in  charge  of  the  nursing  mem- 
bers and  the  wards. 


198    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

Converting  a  French  Villa  into  a  Hospital, 

Difficulties  of  all  sorts  confronted  the  devoted 
little  band  of  workers  who  descended  upon  a  cer- 
tain small  French  town  not  many  months  after  the 
war  had  commenced.  They  had  travelled  for 
many  miles  in  a  motor  lorry,  and  when  they  were 
deposited  at  the  French  villa  they  must  have  been 
somewhat  dismayed  to  find  it  in  a  very  filthy  con- 
dition, but  with  a  patient  actually  waiting  on  the 
doorstep  for  admission. 

An  Army  doctor  is  attached  to  each  Hospital, 
and  in  this  case  he  gallantly  turned  to  and  helped 
the  women  members  and  orderlies  to  get  the  Hos- 
pital ship-shape.  The  patient  was  admitted  at 
once,  and  within  a  few  hours  the  wards  were  clean 
and  straight  and  some  sort  of  food  had  been  served 
to  everyone. 

But  imagine  the  scene  which  met  the  eye  of  the 
V.A.D.  cook  when  she  went  into  the  kitchen  at  six 
o'clock  the  next  morning.  The  place  was  dirty 
in  the  extreme,  and  there  was  no  water  to  be  got 
except  by  sending  for  it  from  the  town  pump. 
Everything  was  in  the  last  stage  of  muddle  and 
the  stove  refused  to  work. 

Perhaps  it  is  as  well  that  history  recordeth  not 
what  she  said  to  herself  at  that  moment,  but  be 
it  to  her  credit  that  whatever  her  feelings  were 
she  kept  them  to  herself  and  bravely  set  to  work 
and  evolved  method  out  of  muddle. 


DETENTION  HOSPITALS  199 

The  tiny  kitchen  to-day  is  a  model  of  neatness, 
with  a  nail  for  everything  and  everything  on  its 
nail.  The  same  cook  has  toiled  there  day  after 
day,  year  in  and  year  out,  and  certainly  has 
earned  some  special  distinction,  for  she  has  cooked 
for  the  patients  and  for  the  staff  and  for  the  two 
chauffeurs,  who  come  in  and  out  at  all  times  of 
the  day,  and  yet  always  find  a  good  hot  meal  await- 
ing them. 

Many  of  the  rooms  in  the  house  were  repapered 
and  whitewashed  by  the  staff,  and  all  sorts  of 
clever  contrivances  have  been  put  up  to  make  the 
house,  which  must  have  been  an  exceedingly  pic- 
turesque residence,  into  a  fairly  convenient  Hos- 
pital. 

Vegetables  are  grown  in  the  little  garden,  and 
the  many  outhouses,  in  which  the  French  people 
seem  to  rejoice,  have  been  turned  into  a  Pack- 
store,  a  vegetable  store,  an  isolation  ward  and 
an  extra  recreation  room  for  the  convalescent 
men. 

One  of  the  V.A.D.  members  acts  as  housemaid, 
whilst  the  others  are  at  work  in  the  wards.  It  is 
a  wonderfully  happy  little  community  of  workers, 
who  take  the  trials  and  the  sudden  emergencies 
which  come  along  as  part  of  the  daily  routine,  in 
philosophical  fashion. 

At  Christmas  time  wonderful  parties  are  held 
for  the  patients,  and  it  is  odd  how  many  men  dis- 
cover that  they  are  suffering  from  some  sort  of 


200    BKITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

illness  just  at  that  particular  moment  and  thereby 
are  welcomed  to  the  Christmas  festivities. 

An  Overflow  of  Patients. 

In  the  middle  of  a  winter  night  the  Commandant 
of  the  St.  John  Hospital  sprang  out  of  bed  in  an- 
swer to  a  violent  ringing  of  the  front-door  bell. 
As  it  happened  there  had  been  no  need  to  leave 
anyone  on  night  duty,  and  the  entire  staff  was 
peacefully  sleeping  when  the  summons  came.  Out- 
side there  was  a  motor  car,  and  in  it  the  doctor 
and  a  patient. 

**But  I  have  not  got  an  empty  bed,"  cried  the 
Commandant  in  despair.     **What  are  we  to  do?" 

**You  must  make  one,"  said  the  doctor  calmly, 
as  two  orderlies  brought  in  the  laden  stretcher. 
**This  is  a  very  serious  accident  which  happened 
at  one  of  the  camps  some  miles  away. ' ' 

The  solution  to  the  problem  was  a  simple  one. 
A  mattress  was  taken  off  the  bed  of  one  of  the 
staff  and  put  on  the  floor  for  a  convalescent  pa- 
tient, whilst  the  seriously  injured  man  was  put 
into  a  bed  in  a  single  ward  where  he  would  be  per- 
fectly quiet. 

The  Water  Is  Cut  Off, 

Little  trials  such  as  having  the  water  cut  off 
from  the  main  with  only  five  minutes '  notice  may 
give  the  Commandant  a  nasty  shock  at  first,  but 
she  becomes  accustomed  to  it  in  the  course  of  time. 


DETENTION  HOSPITALS  201 

It  is  nothing  unusual  to  go  into  one  of  these  Hos- 
pitals and  see  every  kind  of  jug  and  basin  stand- 
ing on  a  table  in  the  kitchen,  filled  to  the  brim  and 
covered  with  papers.  It  means  that  the  town  au- 
thorities have  given  them  short  notice  that  the 
water  will  be  cut  off  for  the  next  twenty-four 
hours,  and  every  sort  of  vessel  has  been  pressed 
into  service  for  the  storage  of  water. 

Army  Rations. 

Both  patients  and  staff  are  fed  on  Army  rations, 
and  this  fact  does  not  add  to  the  joys  of  the  cook, 
for  she  very  often  has  to  wait  for  the  arrival  of 
the  rations,  and  then  they  may  not  be  in  the  least 
what  she  had  expected.  The  food  is  exceedingly 
good  and  there  is  plenty  of  it,  but  no  definite  plans 
can  be  made  early  in  the  day  as  to  of  what  the 
meals  shall  consist. 


CHAPTER  XVm 
Motor  V.A.D.  Units  in  France. 

HUNDREDS  of  strong  men  were  being  em- 
ployed as  Motor  Ambulance  drivers  in 
France,  and  as  the  grip  of  war  took  deeper  hold 
it  became  apparent  that  these  men  must  be  re- 
leased for  work  in  the  trenches.  Many  a  girl  who 
was  an  expert  motor  driver  had  offered  her  serv- 
ices, but  had  been  refused  by  the  Military  authori- 
ties; but  when  the  necessity  arose  for  the  men 
drivers  to  be  released  it  came  about  that  women 
were  gladly  accepted,  and  the  Joint  Committee 
was  asked  to  form  two  Motor  Ambulance  Units 
which  would  work  in  different  districts  in  France. 

It  was  one  of  the  many  experiments  which  have 
been  tried  by  the  Joint  Committee,  and  it  is  satis- 
factory to  know  that  scarcely  any  few  of  them 
have  proved  failures.  The  members  of  the  Unit 
not  only  drive  the  Ambulances,  but  do  all  the  run- 
ning repairs  and  clean  the  cars.  In  some  cases  a 
girl  will  drive  as  many  as  a  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  a  day. 

A  fine  idea  of  the  work  is  given  by  the  Com- 
mandant in  her  report : 

**We  are  a  Convoy  of  thirty-seven  Ambulances, 
one  small  lorry,  and  one  workshop,  with  a  staff  of 

203 


MOTOR  V.A.D.  UNITS  IN  FEANCE     203 

forty  V.A.D.  members,  one  orderly,  four  mechan- 
ics, and  one  man  officer,  called  Transport  Officer. 
Our  Ambulances  deal  with  stretcher  cases  chiefly, 
as  buses  still  run  for  sitting  cases ;  but  we  also  do 
lots  of  odd  jobs. 

^*  We  feel  that  it  is  a  great  honour  for  our  girls 
to  be  allowed  to  drive  at  funerals,  though  it  is 
very  trying  work  when  the  relatives  sit  on  the 
front  seat  of  the  Ambulances." 

The  girls  do  all  the  work  on  their  cars  exactly 
as  men  do,  cleaning,  oiling  and  greasing  them, 
and  changing  tires;  but  they  do  not  do  adjust- 
ments, as  the  men  on  Convoys  are  not  allowed  to 
do  that  either.  Our  girls  drive  very  carefully 
and  well,  and  they  are  exceedingly  popular  with 
the  French  people,  who  are  not  afraid  of  their  chil- 
dren and  dogs  being  run  over  by  them. 

In  a  Motor  Unit  roll  call  is  at  7.30  a.m.,  at  which 
all  the  girls  must  be  present,  even  though  they 
may  have  been  out  driving  part  of  the  night.  They 
work  on  their  cars,  except  for  an  interval  for 
breakfast,  till  10.30  a.m.,  when  the  Commandant 
holds  engine  inspection. 

The  Convoy  is  divided  into  two  sections,  with 
a  Section  Leader  and  Sub-Section  Leader  to  each. 
One  Section  does  all  the  odd  driving  for  the  day, 
whilst  the  other  Section  provides  all  the  orderlies 
who  have  to  do  the  cleaning  duties  in  the  house. 
The  Sections  alternate  their  duties  day  by  day. 
For  Convoys  or  evacuations  the  whole  strength 


204    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

of  the  Unit  is  out,  with  the  exception  of  three 
girls  who  have  to  be  left  to  do  the  orderly  work. 

It  is  not  a  popular  job  to  be  put  as  assistant  to 
one  of  the  three  V.A.D.  cooks,  but  it  has  to  be 
done,  and  as  it  is  taken  in  turns  by  the  entire  Unit 
there  is  a  long  space  in  between  the  duty  for  each 
girl. 

The  Military  authorities  have  intimated  their 
satisfaction  at  the  way  the  work  is  being  carried 
out,  and  certainly  it  is  not  easy  to  keep  up  with 
all  the  demands.  Every  now  and  then  little  con- 
tretemps occur,  such  as  when  the  girls  oversleep 
themselves  and  have  to  jump  into  oilskins  and 
long  leather  boots  and  drive  off  at  the  very  last 
moment. 

The  day's  routine  in  a  Motor  Unit  is  something 
after  this  style:  A  girl  gets  down  at  7.30  and 
goes  straight  to  her  car.  She  has  breakfast  and 
finishes  the  cleaning  of  her  engine  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  her  officer.  Her  Section  Leader  then  tells 
her  to  be  ready  for  the  next  call,  and  directly  the 
whistle  goes  she  mounts  and  is  off. 

On  her  return  she  cleans  her  cubicle,  and  per- 
haps has  to  mend  a  punctured  tire,  which  means 
an  hour  or  more  of  hard  work.  She  is  not  allowed 
to  leave  her  car  until  it  is  in  perfect  order  for  the 
road. 

After  lunch  she  probably  goes  and  plays  tennis 
or  takes  a  rest;  but  she  has  to  ** stand  by,''  for 
an  Evacuation  may  have  been  ordered  at  6  p.m. 


MOTOR  V.A.D.  UNITS  IN  FEANCE     205 

By  that  time  she  will  have  blankets  in  her  car,  and 
the  stretcher  racks  down  with  stretchers  upon 
them.  The  cars  all  line  up,  and  at  a  given  signal 
go  off  to  their  destinations.  The  girls  sign  on 
and  off  before  and  after  every  journey  for  Evac- 
uation or  Convoy. 

Both  the  Motor  Units  are  run  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple, and  every  day  sees  an  increase  in  their  work, 
for  it  is  very  evident  that  they  fill  a  much  needed 
want  and  are  perfectly  equal  to  any  emergency. 

It  is  a  fine  arm  of  V.A.D.  work  in  France,  and 
the  Commandants  are  well  deserving  of  high 
praise,  to  say  nothing  of  the  individual  members, 
who  drive  their  cars  over  roads  which  are  not  in 
too  good  a  condition,  who  face  all  sorts  of  weather 
conditions,  and  who  very  often  are  called  up  at 
night  and  get  no  chance  of  making  up  their  hours 
of  sleep  during  the  day. 

It  is  a  hard  life,  but  has  its  many  compensa- 
tions, for  the  woman  who  really  loves  her  car  will 
tell  you  that  there  is  an  all-powerful  allurement 
about  driving  it,  and  the  difiiculties  of  the  circum- 
stances add  to  rather  than  detract  from  the  fas- 
cination of  the  work. 

Above  and  beyond  all,  these  women  have  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  whilst  they  cannot 
fight  themselves,  they  have  actually  given  men 
to  the  Army,  whilst  they  themselves  are  doing  the 
merciful  work  of  convoying  the  wounded  and  the 
sick. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
Hostels  in  Fbance. 

THE  big  Hotel  at  Boulogne,  which  was  taken 
over  by  the  Joint  Committee  as  Headquar- 
ters, is  entirely  staffed  by  V.A.D.  members,  who 
cook,  sweep,  do  house  and  parlour  work  without 
complaint,  knowing  that  they  are  saving  the  So- 
cieties hundreds  of  pounds  which  may  be  spent 
on  the  sick  and  wounded. 

Self-sacrificing  indeed  is  the  work  of  this  little 
army  of  V.A.D.  members,  who  never  come  into 
direct  contact  with  any  wounded  or  sick  man,  but 
who  simply  cook  and  clean  for  the  staff  who  are 
administering  the  great  work  of  the  two  Societies 
in  Prance. 

There  is  a  Commandant  in  charge  of  the  mem- 
bers, and  by  her  economical  management  she  has 
effected  a  very  large  saving  on  the  cost  of  the  up- 
keep of  Headquarters.  The  administration  of 
huge  sums  of  money  such  as  pass  through  the 
hands  of  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  British  Red 
Cross  Society  and  St.  John  is  bound  to  be  very 
heavy ;  but  a  sharp  eye  is  kept  on  every  detail,  and 
accounts  are  closely  looked  into  by  those  in  au- 
thority. 

206 


HOSTELS  IN  FRANCE  207 

Every  Unit  has  to  keep  a  minute  account  of  its 
expenditure  and  make  a  regular  return,  together 
with  a  report  of  the  work  that  has  been  done.  This 
is  all  condensed  and  put  into  a  summary  which 
is  sent  round  regularly  to  all  the  Units,  so  that 
each  one  can  see  exactly  what  is  going  on  in  other 
Units. 

The  keeping  of  these  accounts  is  no  small  part 
of  each  Commandant's  duty.  At  first  some  of 
them  are  bewildered  by  having  to  keep  them  in 
French  money,  but  they  very  soon  become  enam- 
oured of  the  metric  system. 

Hostels  for  the  nursing  staff  of  the  Hospitals 
also  are  run  by  V.A.D.  staffs  in  several  districts, 
and  three  Hostels  for  relations  of  the  wounded 
are  also  staffed  in  the  same  way. 

In  the  Military  Hospitals  in  France  V.A.D. 
members  are  not  only  to  be  found  in  the  wards 
as  probationers,  but  they  act  as  orderlies  in  the 
kitchens  and  in  the  linen-rooms,  and  thus  they 
liberate  hundreds  of  healthy  men  for  the  firing 
line. 

Nurses'  Clubs, 

Three  Clubs  for  nurses  have  been  established 
and  are  entirely  staffed  by  V.A.D.  members,  and 
in  several  cases  the  gardens  also  are  cared  for 
by  them. 

In  one  of  the  Hospitals,  which  is  very  close  to 
the  Front,  the  cooks  who  are  in  charge  of  the 


208    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

kitchen  have  French  women  working  under  them, 
and  this  arrangement  seems  to  be  most  satisfac- 
tory. In  this  particular  Hospital  there  is  a  dug- 
out, in  which  refuge  can  be  taken  during  bombard- 
ment or  aerial  attack.  This  is  mentioned  to  show 
that  many  V.A.D.  members  are  risking  their  lives 
whilst  carrying  on  their  unostentatious  work. 

**We  are  quite  used  to  being  bombed  from  en- 
emy aeroplanes,"  said  a  V.A.D.  nurse  who  was 
working  in  an  Anglo-Belgian  Hospital  not  far 
from  the  frontier.  **The  regularity  with  which 
the  Germans  fly  over  the  town  and  drop  bombs  is 
astonishing.  We  are  so  accustomed  to  it  that  we 
scarcely  take  any  notice  of  it,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  very  little  damage  has  been  done  by  them 
and  they  have  never  yet  got  anything  of  Military 
importance.  They  have  even  reached  us  with 
their  shells  from  guns,  but  no  one  in  the  town  is 
frightened,  and  we  go  about  our  work  quite  calmly. 
It  really  is  funny  how  one  can  get  used  to  any- 
thing.'' 

So  much  for  the  effect  of  German  f rightfulness  I 

Barges  as  Hospitals, 

Very  little  has  been  written  about  a  barge  which 
has  been  converted  into  a  Hospital  for  the  use 
of  the  civilian  population  and  is  moored  in  a  cer- 
tain Belgian  canal.  A  couple  of  V.A.D.  members 
work  there,  under  the  supervision  of  a  trained 
Sister. 


HOSTELS  IN  FRANCE  209 

Confidential  Work. 

In  one  of  the  big  French  towns  several  V.A.D. 
members  are  doing  confidential  work  under  the 
Military  authorities.  They  are  proving  them- 
selves to  be  thoroughly  efficient  and  trustworthy 
in  every  way. 

At  one  of  the  Eest  Clubs  for  nurses  the  mem- 
bers sleep  in  tents  on  the  sand-dunes  outside  the 
Club  house,  and  considering  that  they  have  no 
means  of  transport  and  have  to  get  all  their  milk 
and  eggs  from  a  village  two  miles  away,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  the  work  is  fairly  strenuous. 
Winter  and  summer  they  have  carried  out  this 
work,  which  probably  demands  as  much  unselfish- 
ness as  any  other  in  France.  They  have  created 
a  small  garden  in  the  sand,  which  gives  a  delight- 
ful patch  of  colour,  for  in  it  they  grow  nastur- 
tiums, mignonette,  and  heliotrope. 

Joint  Committee  Post  Office, 

It  is  comparatively  a  new  development  for  the 
Joint  Committee  Post  Office  to  be  managed  by 
a  V.A.D.  Unit,  but  it  is  a  venture  which  has  suc- 
ceeded very  well  indeed.  The  Office  is  clean  and 
tidy  and  the  members  look  smart  and  happy.  At- 
tached to  the  Post  Office  is  a  postal  van  which  is 
driven  by  a  V.A.D.  member.  She  generally  drives 
about  sixty  miles  a  day,  delivering  letters,  news- 
papers, etc.,  to  the  various  Joint  Committee  for- 
mations in  the  district. 


210    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

At  the  V.A.D.  Club  for  Sisters  and  Military 
V.A.D.  members  one  worker,  who  has  been  in 
charge  for  many  months,  has  shown  great  devo- 
tion and  unselfishness.  Through  her  work  dozens 
of  tired  nurses  off  Ambulance  trains  and  out  of 
Hospitals  have  had  restful  and  happy  times  in 
the  Club. 

It  has  been  truly  said  of  V.A.D.  members  that 
no  job  is  too  small  for  them  to  undertake,  and 
no  gap  is  too  large  for  them  to  fill.  They  are  per- 
petually adding  to  their  branches  of  work  and 
constantly  devising  new  schemes  for  the  advance 
of  their  work. 

For  example,  during  the  big  pushes  it  happens 
that  improvised  Ambulance  trains  come  in  one 
close  upon  the  heels  of  the  other,  and  it  is  exceed- 
ingly difficult,  almost  impossible  at  times,  to  make 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  cocoa  for  the  wounded  men. 
"With  characteristic  ingenuity,  the  V.A.D.  mem- 
bers have  now  devised  enormous  hay  boxes,  in 
which  they  keep  large  cauldrons  full  of  cocoa  or 
tea  hot  for  hours  during  a  rush,  when  they  do  not 
know  whether  hundreds  or  thousands  of  wounded 
will  need  food. 

The  house  members  in  the  Hostels  also  deserve 
great  praise.  They  cheerfully  do  the  cooking, 
house  and  pantry  work,  and  many  have  admitted 
that  they  will  ** understand  things  better"  in  their 
own  homes  in  future.  Complaints  are  rare,  and 
the  whole  spirit  of  the  V.A.D.  members  in  Prance 


HOSTELS  IN  FRANCE  211 

might  well  be  taken  as  an  example  to  many  of  the 
girls  at  home. 

The  rules  and  regulations  are  very  strict,  and 
there  is  but  little  entertainment.  War  conditions 
prevail  everywhere,  and  the  members  show  a  fine 
sense  of  honour  in  obeying  the  spirit  of  the  law 
rather  than  the  letter.  They  rise  early,  work 
hard  all  day,  and  they  go  to  bed  in  cubicles  which 
before  the  war  would  not  have  been  offered  to  the 
lowliest  of  domestic  servants. 

Red  Cross  Stores, 

The  first  Red  Cross  Stores  to  be  established  in 
France  were  opened  by  Mrs.  Clipperton,  the  wife 
of  the  Consul-General  of  Rouen.  The  necessities 
of  the  Hospitals  in  France  during  the  early  months 
of  the  war  far  exceeded  the  supplies,  and  it  was 
a  heart-rending  matter  for  Mrs.  Clipperton  to  try 
to  send  consignments  of  goods  that  would  at  all 
meet  with  the  needs.  Words  cannot  express  how 
she  worked  in  order  to  gather  together  the  equip- 
ment which  was  constantly  being  demanded  by 
Matrons  of  Hospitals,  but  by  her  marvellous  en- 
ergy and  her  wonderful  personality  she  effected 
that  which  might  have  seemed  to  be  impossible. 

After  a  time  some  very  fine  premises  in  a  cen- 
tral position  in  Rouen  were  put  at  her  disposal, 
and  they  may  well  be  looked  upon  as  model  Red 
Cross  Stores. 

Everything  is  worked  on  a  thoroughly  business 


212    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

basis,  and  requisitions  have  to  be  made  out  on 
forms  by  Commandants  or  Matrons  before  any- 
thing is  allowed  to  leave  the  Stores.  Requisitions 
are  packed  and  dispatched  with  the  utmost 
promptitude,  a  motor  lorry  being  kept  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sending  the  goods  to  the  various  Units 
which  are  situated  on  the  outskirts  of  the  district 
served  by  the  Rouen  Red  Cross  Stores. 

Here  again  we  must  speak  of  the  Stores  as  being 
typical  of  many  others  which  exist,  but  as  they 
were  the  first  to  be  got  into  working  order,  it  is 
only  just  to  describe  them  rather  than  any  others. 

How  Mr.  Clipperton  manages  to  spare  time  from 
his  heavy  official  duties  is  always  a  marvel  to 
those  who  know  him;  but  his  heart  and  soul  are 
in  Red  Cross  work,  and  he  has  never  yet  been 
known  not  to  fulfil  a  demand  that  has  been  made 
upon  him  when  it  sprang  out  of  the  needs  of  our 
wounded. 

Stores  there  are  of  every  sort  of  article  that 
can  possibly  be  wanted  in  Red  Cross  work,  and 
they  are  methodically  arranged  on  shelves  all 
round  the  big  rooms  over  which  Mrs.  Clipperton 
presides.  From  china  and  enamel  plates,  cups, 
pots  and  pans,  the  eye  is  carried  along  to  piles  of 
under-garments,  fascinating  groups  of  invalid 
foods,  and  all  kinds  of  household  equipment.  Ta- 
bles and  chairs  even  can  be  supplied  by  Mrs.  Clip- 
perton at  very  short  notice,  and  when  a  big  cup- 
board was  begged  for  by  the  Commandant  of  a 


HOSTELS  IN  FRANCE  213 

Rest  Station,  who  did  not  know  what  to  do  with 
the  bandages  she  had  to  store  for  the  big  rush,  a 
huge  packing  case  was  quickly  converted  into  a 
cupboard,  well  finished,  even  to  having  a  lock  and 
key  on  it,  and  was  dispatched  at  very  short  notice. 

Mrs.  Clipperton  keeps  a  close  eye  on  various 
branches  of  work  outside  the  actual  Stores. 
When  the  two  little  Detention  Hospitals  were  first 
started  she  gave  invaluable  assistance  in  deciding 
what  furniture  should  be  put  in  and  helped  in 
making  the  curtains.  When  the  Hostel  was 
started  for  the  accommodation  of  the  relatives  of 
wounded  in  Rouen  the  entire  furnishing  of  the 
house  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mrs.  Clipperton,  who  had 
a  little  band  of  V.A.D.  members  under  her.  The 
whole  thing  was  done  with  great  rapidity,  and  the 
house  is  quite  charming  and  makes  a  comfortable 
refuge  for  the  weary  and  sad  people  who  come 
to  see  their  stricken  loved  ones. 

That  is  only  one  instance  of  many  in  which  Mrs. 
Clipperton  has  been  the  moving  spirit  in  starting 
Red  Cross  establishments,  and  latterly  she  had 
added  to  her  own  work  by  giving  a  helping  hand 
to  the  Canadian  Red  Cross  Organisation  which  is 
in  Rouen. 

As  time  goes  on  the  work  at  her  own  Red  Cross 
Stores  grows  heavier,  but  the  system  on  which  she 
works  is  admirable  and  everything  goes  smoothly. 
Only  the  Commandant  of  any  Unit  which  is  out  in 
France  can  quite  realise  the  help  which  is  given 


214    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

to  her  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clipperton's  ready  assist- 
ance and  kindly,  genial  interest. 

The  Discretion  of  V,A.D,  Members, 

The  Military  authorities  have  long  since  real- 
ised that  women  can  be  trusted  in  the  zone  of  the 
Armies;  that  they  understand  discipline  and  ap- 
preciate the  necessity  of  discretion. 

**Do  you  know  to  what  place  General  Headquar- 
ters have  been  moved?"  someone  recently  asked  a 
V.A.D.  member,  lately  returned  from  France. 

**Yes,  I  know,"  she  admitted. 

'*Then  tell  me,"  he  begged.  '*I  have  a  special 
reason  for  wanting  to  know." 

*  *  I  cannot  do  that, ' '  said  she  staunchly.  *  *  I  only 
got  to  know  in  the  course  of  my  work,  and  we 
never  speak  of  Military  matters." 

That  is  the  general  aspect  of  the  V.A.D.  mem- 
ber. She  can  keep  a  secret,  and  has  as  high  a 
sense  of  honour  as  her  brother  who  is  in  the  Army. 
The  war,  pitiful  and  horrible  and  costly  in  human 
life  as  it  has  been,  has  done  a  great  deal  for  the 
manhood  of  the  country,  but  perhaps  it  has  done 
even  more  for  its  womanhood. 


CHAPTER  XX 
V.A.D.  Work  in  Feench  Hospitals. 

A  LARGE  number  of  English  men  and  women 
have  given  their  services  ever  since  the 
commencement  of  the  war  in  aid  of  French  pa- 
tients, and  their  labours  have  been  intensely  ap- 
preciated by  the  French  nation. 

It  is  curious  that  French  people,  with  all  their 
fine  organisation  and  educational  progress,  should 
not  have  had  regular  training  schools  for  nurses 
long  ago.  There  are  a  few  fully  trained  French 
nurses,  but  so  few  are  they  that  one  seldom  meets 
them. 

The  three  recognised  Red  Cross  French  Socie- 
ties have  done  splendid  work  among  the  French 
wounded,  and  in  a  few  instances  the  Red  Cross 
Detachments  were  thoroughly  well  established 
long  before  the  war,  and  have  since  shown  them- 
selves capable  of  doing  the  most  excellent  work; 
but  the  French  people  have  been  exceedingly 
thankful  to  accept  the  offer  of  assistance  from  us 
in  their  Hospitals,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  in 
a  very  large  measure  the  Entente  Cordiale  has 
been  enormously  strengthened  by  the  willing  as- 

215 


216    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

sistance  which'  has  been  given  by  English  men 
and  women  to  sick  and  wounded  French  soldiers. 

Hospitals  in  Monasteries, 

Many  of  the  beautiful  and  historic  Monasteries 
and  Chateaux  of  France  have  been  turned  into 
Hospitals,  and  in  not  a  few  of  them  fully  trained 
English  nurses  are  in  charge  of  the  wards,  some- 
times working  entirely  under  French  doctors  and 
sometimes  under  British  doctors,  and  in  one  case 
at  least  both  French  and  English  doctors  work 
amicably  together  with  an  English  staff  under 
them. 

As  I  write  there  rises  a  picture  in  my  mind's 
eye  of  a  wonderful  old  Castle  situated  in  a  wooded 
part  of  Seine  Inferieur.  The  two  great  castel- 
lated towers,  built  in  grim  grey  stone,  stand  out 
boldly  from  the  side  of  a  hill,  and  are  joined  by 
an  ancient  wooden  drawbridge,  which  stretches 
across  a  wide  and  very  deep  moat.  From  the 
drawbridge,  up  between  the  two  towers,  there 
springs  a  flight  of  circular  steps,  and  on  the  slop- 
ing ground  at  either  side  there  are  curious-shaped 
flower  beds,  ablaze  with  geraniums  and  many 
gaudy  blossoms. 

The  great  door  was  thrown  open  and  we  were 
ushered  into  a  long  stone  corridor,  and  eventually 
taken  through  the  wards,  filled  with  French  sol- 
diers. This  was  not  a  Military  Hospital,  but  had 
been  equipped  and  staffed  by  private  endeavour, 


Officer.  Ordinary  Member. 

Uniforms  for  Voluntary  Aid  Workers. 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  FRENCH  HOSPITALS    217 

and  reflected  great  credit  on  the  organisation  of 
the  French  people  who  were  at  the  head  of  it. 

We  were  shown  a  very  beautiful  old  painted 
chamber,  and  various  other  rooms  filled  with  fine 
old  furniture,  which  were  carefully  locked  from 
general  view. 

An  Ancient  Abbey. 

A  fine  Abbey  not  very  far  from  the  French  fir- 
ing line  has  been  staffed  almost  entirely  from 
the  beginning  of  the  war  by  English  people,  and 
in  the  Verdun  district  there  are  several  big 
French  Hospitals  entirely  run  by  British  men 
and  women. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  in  many  cases  the 
fully  trained  Sisters  who  are  working  amongst 
the  French  are  Canadians  and  Australians,  so 
that  the  Entente  is  spreading  its  influence  far  be- 
yond the  United  Kingdom,  and  is  stretching  away 
to  the  furthest  corners  of  our  Greater  Dominions. 

Englishmen  who  are  over  military  age  or  are 
physically  unfit  have  been  working  in  these  Hos- 
pitals from  the  very  beginning,  and  have  proved 
themselves  to  be  invaluable  as  orderlies.  They 
have  learned  to  become  expert  stretcher-bearers, 
they  have  driven  motor  Ambulances  many  times 
under  fire,  and  they  have  carried  out  all  the  lowly 
work  which  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  men  in  a  Hos- 
pital ward. 

They  labour  under  conditions  much  more  diflfi- 


218    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

cult  than  those  which  prevail  in  the  English  Hos- 
pitals in  France,  because  the  sanitation  is  not  as 
good,  and  the  work  entailed  is  extremely  heavy 
in  consequence.  Highly  cultured  men  are  labour- 
ing in  these  Hospitals  day  and  night,  and  find 
immense  satisfaction  in  being  of  some  assistance 
to  the  gallant  French  soldier. 

They  all  tell  the  same  story  about  the  marvel- 
lous endurance  of  the  Frenchman  after  he  has 
been  hit,  and  I  have  no  difficulty  in  believing  this, 
for  I  have  seen  many  times  for  myself  the  mag- 
nificent courage  of  French  wounded  soldiers.  If 
they  are  not  as  boisterously  cheery  as  our  own 
men,  they  are  more  philosophical  and  quite  as 
patient. 

Their  gratitude  is  intense,  and  they  are  not 
ashamed  of  showing  their  emotion.  To  an  Eng- 
lish woman  it  is  embarrassing  when  a  soldier 
seizes  her  hands,  kisses  them  and  cries  over  them ; 
but  she  cannot  fail  to  be  touched,  because  it  is 
not  all  mere  outward  expression,  but  shows  the 
real  sentiment  and  gratitude  which  lie  deep  in 
the  heart. 

Self -Sacrificing  Labour, 

For  pure  self-sacrifice  it  would  be  hard  to  match 
the  action  of  a  young  English  V.A.D.  member,  who 
has  for  months  on  end  worked  for  the  best  part 
of  the  day  in  a  cellar  at  retrimming  lamps.  The 
lighting  of  these  French  Hospitals  is  one  of  the 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  FRENCH  HOSPITALS    219 

difficulties  which  has  to  be  faced,  and  every  day 
someone  has  got  to  do  the  not  too  exhilarating 
task  of  trimming  between  one  and  two  hundred 
lamps. 

The  cellar  is  cold  and  dark,  the  work  is  dirty 
and  the  life  is  lonely,  but  this  brave  young  girl 
is  dauntless,  and  laughed  merrily  when  an  or- 
derly happened  to  descend  to  the  cellar  and  was 
astonished  to  see  her  surrounded  by  a  bewilder- 
ing number  of  lamps. 

We  might  quote  dozens  of  such  examples  for 
self-sacrificing  unobtrusive  work  which  forms  one 
of  the  cogs  in  the  great  wheel  of  war  work.  There 
is  no  glory  and  no  fame,  no  excitement  and  cer- 
tainly no  sort  of  comfort  in  a  job  of  this  kind; 
but  ** somebody  has  got  to  do  it;  I  may  as  well 
be  that  somebody  as  anyone  else."  A  valiant 
spirit,  and  one  which  has  made  English  people 
the  real  friends  of  France. 

It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  the  English  people 
working  in  French  Hospitals  to  be  near  enough 
to  the  line  to  be  within  range  of  the  shells.  One 
English  woman,  who  had  worked  as  a  V.A.D.  mem- 
ber in  the  Verdun  district,  said  that  they  became 
expert  in  knowing  the  sound  of  the  shells  as  they 
passed  over  their  Hospital  and  fell  in  a  village  a 
mile  away.  They  knew  from  the  sound  the  size 
and  the  kind  of  shells  that  were  being  thrown. 

The  Hospital  in  which  she  was  working  has  been 
established  in  a  very  beautiful  old  Chateau,  and 


220    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

it  was  said  that  the  German  artillerjmaen  had  been 
specially  warned  not  to  injure  it  because  the  Kai- 
ser wished  to  make  it  a  summer  residence  for  one 
of  his  sons  after  the  war! 

The  work  in  this  Hospital  was  very  hard  be- 
cause the  patients  came  in  direct  from  the 
trenches;  but  everything  went  exceedingly  well, 
and  the  little  band  of  English  people  seem  to  have 
been  very  happy  there. 

In  the  south  of  France  a  big  school  has  been 
turned  into  a  Hospital  with  five  hundred  beds,  and 
in  it  a  few  English  women  started  work  in  Janu- 
ary, 1915,  gradually  adding  to  their  numbers  un- 
til there  were  about  a  dozen  all  told.  With  some 
devoted  French  women  to  assist  them,  two  or 
three  of  them  ran  a  section  each  of  the  Hospital 
with  about  eighty  beds  under  their  care. 

The  building  was  quite  suitable  for  a  Hospital, 
having  very  large  dormitories  and  fair-sized  class- 
rooms which  could  be  made  into  good  wards.  Al- 
though the  Hospital  was  many  miles  from  the 
Front  the  cases,  which  of  course  were  not  of  the 
worst  character,  arrived  in  a  most  pitiable  con- 
dition. 

The  English  V.A.D.  members  were  of  various 
grades  of  experience,  some  of  them  being  highly 
trained  and  others  with  but  little  knowledge  of 
nursing.  The  orderlies  were  all  untrained,  but 
showed  great  willingness. 

The  experienced  members  felt  it  was  a  great  re- 


V.A.D.  WORK  IN  FRENCH  HOSPITALS    221 

sponsibility  to  cope  with  the  convoys  of  several 
hundreds  of  patients,  but  they  always  managed 
it  excellently.  The  convoys  generally  came  in  at 
night,  and  in  the  dimly  lit  wards  it  was  a  hard 
task  to  get  even  the  poor  stumbling,  tired  stream 
of  walking  cases  washed  and  comfortably  put  to 
bed.  Each  division  of  the  Hospital  had  its  own 
surgery  in  which  all  the  dressings  were  done, 
which  lightened  the  work  and  also  made  it  pos- 
sible for  the  dressings  to  be  done  under  the  most 
hygienic  circumstances.  The  stretcher  cases  pre- 
sented a  good  deal  of  difficulty  in  this  direction, 
but  the  V.A.D.  members  were  determined  to  keep 
everything  up  to  a  high  standard,  and  they 
brought  not  only  knowledge  but  hard  work  to 
bear  on  every  department  of  the  Hospital. 

One  of  the  V.A.D.  members  of  this  Hospital 
summed  the  feelings  of  herself  and  her  comrades 
up  in  a  few  words  when  she  wrote  home :  **If  work 
is  sometimes  hard — as  during  the  arrival  of  con- 
voys, when  we  often  have  to  do  day  and  night 
shifts — all  of  us  are  ready  to  overcome  even  worse 
difficulties  for  the  sake  of  the  brave  and  ever- 
cheerful  Poilu.'* 

British  Ambulance  Drivers  on  the  French  Front. 

A  magnificent  service  has  been  rendered  by 
many  Englishmen  as  Motor  Ambulance  drivers. 
They  have  constantly  taken  their  lives  in  their 
hands,  for  their  work  has  carried  them  out  almost 


222    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

to  the  firing  line,  and  certainly  within  reach  of 
the  heavy  shells. 

One  needs  to  see  as  I  have  done  the  Motor  Am- 
bulances coming  in,  torn  here  and  there  by  shrap- 
nel, to  realise  in  the  slightest  degree  what  it  must 
mean  to  run  over  the  fire-swept  roads  which  lead 
from  the  Hospitals  to  the  Clearing  Stations.  It 
is  a  thrilling  sight  to  see  a  long  stream  of  Am- 
bulances wending  its  way  down  a  French  road, 
bearing  its  burden  of  broken  manhood. 

In  a  town  which  was  at  that  time  only  fifteen 
miles  from  the  firing  line  I  had  the  opportunity 
of  speaking  to  an  American  who  had  generously 
brought  an  Ambulance  car  over  from  the  States 
and  ran  it  out  every  night  to  fetch  in  French 
wounded.  He  said  that  there  were  many  English- 
men doing  this  same  kind  of  work,  and  by  his 
courtesy  I  was  allowed  to  see  the  French  Casualty 
Clearing  Hospital  to  which  he  took  his  patients 
from  the  firing  line. 

The  state  of  his  Ambulance  car  was  indescrib- 
able. It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  it  was  covered 
with  mud;  it  had  been  hit  in  several  places  by 
shot  and  shell,  and  it  rocked  and  swayed  ominously 
as  we  dashed  down  the  crowded  way.  He  said 
that  there  was  nothing  vital  the  matter  with  it, 
and  that  it  had  got  plenty  of  good  work  in  it  yet, 
which  I  did  not  doubt;  but  a  more  war-worn  and 
utterly  dilapidated  vehicle  never  have  I  seen. 

These  voluntary  motor  drivers  live  very  often 


y.A.D.  WORK  IN  FRENCH  HOSPITALS    223 

in  anything  but  comfortable  quarters.  They  set 
forth  on  their  daily  work  late  in  the  afternoon, 
and  it  is  marvellous  how  they  find  their  way  down 
the  dark  roads,  for  of  course  they  can  carry  no 
sort  of  light  with  them.  When  they  meet  the 
stretcher-bearers  their  cars  are  loaded  up  and  they 
turn  and  dash  away  as  fast  as  possible. 

Many  a  thrilling  story  did  I  hear  that  day,  and 
they  gained  not  a  little  in  emphasis  and  point  be- 
cause whilst  we  talked  there  was  the  incessant 
boom  of  the  heavy  guns,  and  the  frail  sides  of 
the  Goods  Shed  which  had  been  turned  into  the 
Casualty  Hospital  shook  and  reverberated  again 
and  again. 

In  speaking  of  the  conditions  under  which  these 
English  motor  jirivers  live,  perhaps  we  may  quote 
the  words  of  Commandant  New,  the  officer  in 
charge  of  the  British  Ambulance  Committee's  sec- 
tions working  with  the  French  Army: 

**Our  Ambulances  were  quite  unfit  to  sleep  in, 
but  we  had  the  use  of  a  bam,  which  had  a  thor- 
ough system  of  ventilation  on  all  sides.  Various 
odd  gipsy-like  tents  made  of  old  stretcher  poles, 
blankets,  corrugated  iron,  canvas  and  wood  were 
put  up,  but  the  weather  was  kind,  so  no  matter. 
We  took  our  food  from  the  usual  tin  plates  and 
cups  in  the  porte-cochere  of  a  farm,  amongst 
wagons,  accumulated  litter,  and  flies  in  myriads. 
When  the  meal  is  ready  a  wagon  and  team  may 
demand  passage,  and  everything  has  to  be  cleared 


224    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEKS 

away.  Without  warning  the  order  came  to  move 
up  to  the  front  again.  This  meant  another  ex- 
hausting day  for  everyone,  from  early  morn  till 
late  afternoon.  When  we  reached  our  new  camp- 
ing ground  one  and  all  were  so  coated  with  dust 
that  we  were  like  old  men  with  white  hair  and 
moustaches.  There  was  no  water,  so  with  parch- 
ment-like lips  we  made  our  camp  on  the  hillside 
far  more  bare  than  the  Downs  near  Brighton.  .  .  . 

**Our  Ambulance  route  runs  under  the  very 

walls  of  .    Picture  a  large  town  without  a 

single  resident  left  in  its  miles  of  streets.  Entire 
quarters  are  nothing  but  ruins  and  rubbish  heaps, 
though  others  have  escaped.  At  night  not  a 
twinkle  of  light  anywhere  save,  perhaps,  that  from 
the  blue-white  star  shells  overhead  or  a  peep  of 
moon.  It  is  eerie  and  wonderful  beyond  words. 
Enormous  German  shells  come  over  frequently. 
You  must  find  your  way  in  pitch  darkness  down 
narrow  alley-ways  which  have  been  cleared  with 
pick  and  shovel." 

These  Ambulances  have  to  run  between  the 
French  artillery  and  the  firing  line,  and  a  clever 
device  has  been  thought  out  for  the  safety  of  the 
cars.  At  one  point  on  the  road  there  has  been 
set  up  a  pole  the  exact  height  of  an  Ambulance, 
carrying  a  little  light  on  the  top  at  night.  This 
gives  the  batteries  the  minimum  elevation  per- 
missible when  the  road  is  being  used.  The  guns 
bark  incessantly  from  behind,  and  the  German  re- 


V.A.D.  WOEK  IN  FEENCH  HOSPITALS    225 

plies — ^high  explosives — come  thick  and  fast;  yet 
the  courageous  motor  drivers  dash  between  with 
their  cars  calmly  and  unafraid. 

Commandant  New  gives  us  another  glimpse  of 
the  work:  ** Through  all  this  our  Ambulances 
stand  in  the  open  near  the  poste  de  secours,  a  dug- 
out heavily  sand-bagged  and  cut  into  the  hillside. 
The  wounded  arrive  by  scores;  not  an  instant  is 
lost.  The  car  is  loaded  and  passes  away  into  the 
darkness.  Willit  ever  reach  safety?  Another  fol- 
lows and  another,  hour  by  hour,  until  as  the  dawn 
breaks  a  thick  white  fog  obscures  everything  and 
soaks  the  exhausted  men.  But  the  Ambulance  has 
to  run  the  gauntlet  again  all  the  way.  It  has  a 
groaning  load  of  suffering;  the  shell  holes  in  the 
road  are  to  be  avoided.  Few  men  can  keep  a 
steady  pace  when  the  car  is  struck  and  mud  and 
stones  fly  everywhere  in  the  blackness.  Still, 
though  half-choked  with  smoke,  nothing  less  is  ex- 
pected. At  first  as  you  descend  the  hill  it  gives 
some  shelter,  but  an  absolutely  exposed  stretch 
follows,  and  as  the  road  winds  about  so  the  chances 
against  you  vary  every  fifty  yards.  In  time  you 
come  to  the  zone  of  fewer  but  larger  shells  from 
the  long-range  guns,  and  further  still  at  last  you 
have  left  the  bombardment  booming  and  snapping 
and  grumbling  behind  you  entirely,  all  this  time, 
be  it  remembered,  travelling  at  five  miles  an  hour. 
As  one  of  our  cars  passed  a  level  crossing  a  Boche 
shell  cut  the  railway  rails  through  like  sticks ;  an- 


226    BKITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

other  car  had  a  piece  of  shell  through  the  dash- 
board, front,  and  roof,  and  no  one  hurt ;  another 
fragment  passed  right  through  from  side  to  side 
between  the  heads  of  the  men  inside,  and  again 
no  harm  done;  but  the  same  luck  cannot  always 
be  with  us." 

That,  alas,  is  true,  for  not  long  since  several  of 
these  gallant  motor  drivers  were  seriously  in- 
jured. The  French  Government  has  recognised 
the  gallantry  of  several  of  the  Englishmen  who 
have  undertaken  this  particular  work  for  their 
French  friends,  and  have  decorated  them  with  the 
Medaille  Militaire  and  with  the  Croix  de  Guerre. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
Canadian  and  Ovebseas  V.A.D.  Work. 

CANADA  has  given  such  magnificent  aid  in 
sending  fighting  men  to  the  help  of  the 
Mother  Country,  with  such  superb  generosity,  that 
it  comes  as  no  surprise  to  hear  that  the  men  and 
women  who  are  left  at  home  in  the  Canadian  towns 
have  done  their  utmost  to  help  Red  Cross  work. 

The  ground  was  already  prepared  for  this  as 
there  had  always  been  keen  interest  shown  in  St. 
John  Ambulance  work  throughout  Canada,  and 
some  years  ago,  when  the  King  reviewed  the  St. 
John  Ambulance  Brigade  a  great  many  Canadian 
members  came  over  for  the  occasion.  Many  of 
these  have  actually  become  V.A.D.  members,  and 
all  of  them  may  well  be  classed  as  belonging  to 
the  movement,  since  they  have  given  their  services 
for  Red  Cross  work  ever  since  the  war  began. 

The  Duke  of  Connaught,  who  is  the  Sovereign 
Grand  Prior  of  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jeru- 
salem, became  Patron  of  the  Canadian  branch,  and 
showed  an  intense  interest  in  all  its  work.  At 
the  annual  meeting  held  in  Ottawa,  His  Royal 
Highness  said:  **I  would  like  to  say  that  our 
Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  have  been  found  most 

227 


228    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

useful.  At  the  present  moment  there  are  three 
or  four  Convalescent  Hospitals  almost  entirely- 
staffed  by  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments.  At 
first  there  was  a  little  difficulty  in  their  recognised 
position,  but  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  announce 
that  the  Militia  Department  have  very  generously 
and  very  kindly  recognised  the  position  of  the 
Voluntary  Aid  Detachments,  and  now  they  form 
a  recognised  part  of  our  Military  Hospital  sys- 
tem.'* 

Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  were  organised  in 
the  city  of  Halifax  and  in  the  city  of  Quebec,  and 
other  Detachments  have  since  been  formed. 

History  of  Canadian  V.A,  Detachments, 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  the  Militia 
Council  (Canada)  on  November  29th,  1911,  ap- 
proved of  a  scheme  for  **the  organisation  of  Vol- 
untary Medical  Aid  in  Canada."  This  plan  was 
revised  in  1914,  and  as  amended  was  approved 
by  the  Militia  Council  on  March  3rd  of  that  year. 
Committees  were  created  in  each  district  and  they 
were  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  organising 
Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  in  connection  with 
the  Militia. 

It  was  arranged  at  a  conference  of  representa- 
tives held  at  Government  House  on  August  14th, 
1914,  with  the  approval  of  H.R.H.  the  Governor 
General,  that  the  duty  of  organising  Voluntary 
Aid  Detachments  should  be  given  over  to  the  St. 


CANADIAN  V.A.D.  WORK  229 

John  Ambulance  Association.  Thus  the  organisa- 
tion began,  the  first  V.A.  Detachment  to  be  formed 
being  in  Halifax.  The  second  was  at  Quebec,  and 
Montreal  and  Ottawa  quickly  followed. 

An  enormous  number  of  classes  in  First  Aid 
and  Home  Nursing  have  been  held  all  over  Canada, 
with  the  result  that  thousands  of  qualified  men 
and  women  are  now  in  a  position  to  form  Detach- 
ments throughout  the  Dominion. 

The  First  Ottawa  Women's  V.A,D. 

This  was  formed  in  January,  1915,  of  about 
thirty  members  and  officers.  They  laid  down  three 
distinct  objects  for  which  the  Detachment  was 
formed:  (1)  putting  to  practical  use  the  knowl- 
edge acquired  in  First  Aid  and  Home  Nursing  by 
continual  practice  in  the  making  of  beds,  applica- 
tion of  bandages,  and  the  preparing  of  invalid 
diets,  etc.;  (2)  being  able  in  a  time  of  calamity  or 
public  distress  to  turn  any  suitable  building  into 
an  emergency  Hospital,  and  to  assist  graduate 
nurses  in  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded;  (3) 
being  able  to  act  as  probationers  under  graduate 
nurses  in  Convalescent  Homes  which  may  be  es- 
tablished by  the  Militia  in  Ottawa  or  vicinity. 

Not  content  with  having  these  objects  merely 
set  down  upon  paper,  the  Detachment  approached 
the  Public  Works  Department  and  asked  for  the 
use  of  a  good-sized  room.  This  was  granted,  and 
the  public  were  invited  to  assist  in  furnishing  the 


230    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

room,  with  the  result  that  there  grew  up  in  Well- 
ington Street  a  room  with  a  kitchen  and  bath- 
room attached,  where  the  members  of  the  Detach- 
ment could  practise  all  the  work  required  in  a 
Hospital. 

The  Girl  Guides  volunteered  to  act  as  patients, 
and  as  well  as  classes  in  nursing  instruction,  those 
for  the  study  of  the  Braille  System  for  the  blind 
were  held,  so  that  the  V.A.D.  members  could  help 
to  teach  blinded  soldiers  and  sailors  to  read  and 
write. 

In  September,  members  of  the  Detachment  were 
put  in  charge  of  a  tent  at  the  Central  Canada  Ex- 
hibition, at  which  all  kinds  of  First  Aid  and  Home 
Nursing  appliances  were  displayed. 

Useful  Work. 

From  time  to  time  the  members  have  been  able 
to  collect  fruit,  jam,  books,  etc.,  for  the  77th  Bat- 
talion of  Engineers  in  camp  on  Rock  Cliff,  and 
five  cases  of  oranges  were  collected  and  presented 
to  the  38th  Battalion  on  its  departure  from  Ot- 
tawa. The  men  were  exceedingly  grateful  for 
this,  as  they  had  no  drinking  water  on  the  train. 

A  smart  bit  of  work  was  carried  out  by  the  De- 
tachment early  in  October,  when  the  8th  Canadian 
Mounted  Rifles  passed  through  Ottawa  from 
Kingston.  The  V.A.D.  members  heard  that  the 
men  would  be  unable  to  have  a  meal  from  the 
time  they  left  Kingston  very  early  in  the  morning 


CANADIAN  V.A.D.  WORK  231 

until  after  they  left  Ottawa  at  5  p.  m.  They  im- 
mediately made  arrangements  to  have  hot  soup, 
bread,  and  fresh  fruit  at  the  station,  and  the  ap- 
peal to  the  public  for  funds  was  so  generous  that 
there  was  more  than  sufficient  food  to  supply  the 
six  hundred  and  fifty  officers  and  men  who  were 
fed  that  day.  Three  ladies  of  the  Detachment 
supplied  the  soup,  which  was  made  in  their  own 
homes,  and  Colonel  D.  R.  Street  lent  a  field  kitchen 
belonging  to  the  77th  Battalion. 

The  Detachment  has  grown  enormously,  and  the 
members  are  all  very  enthusiastic  and  anxious  to 
help  in  any  way  that  is  possible. 

The  late  Sir  Sanford  Fleming's  residence  on 
Sandy  hill  has  been  offered  and  accepted  by  the 
Militia  Department  to  be  used  as  a  Convalescent 
Home  for  returned  wounded  soldiers,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  V.A.D.  hope  to  be  able  to  serve  in  re- 
lays as  probationers  under  graduated  nurses  who 
will  be  in  charge. 

In  the  district  of  Quebec  the  Voluntary  Aid  De- 
tachment at  Sherbrooke  Centre  has  been  doing  a 
fine  work  of  mercy  in  looking  after  the  require- 
ments of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  from  the  Front 
at  the  EZhaki  Convalescent  Home. 

Canadian  Army  Medical  Corps. 

A  very  large  number  of  Canadian  St.  John  men 
have  volunteered  for  active  service  with  this  corps, 
and  are  working  in  Hospitals  or  right  up  close  to 


232    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEEES 

the  firing  line  in  France  or  other  parts  of  the  Con- 
tinent. 

WorJcing  Parties. 

These  have  been  formed  in  various  places  in 
Canada  and  have  done  magnificent  work  for  the 
Bed  Cross  Society. 

Sixty  V,A,B,  Canadians  at  Work  in  Military  Hos- 
pitals, 

During  the  autumn  of  1916  sixty  Canadian 
V.A.D.  members  came  to  England  to  give  their 
services  in  Military  Hospitals.  Ten  of  these  were 
sent  on  to  France  to  work  there  in  Military  Hos- 
pitals and  fifty  remained  in  England.  They  have 
done  exceedingly  well  and  certainly  reflect  credit 
on  their  organisation.  It  is  too  well  known  a  fact 
for  it  to  be  necessary  to  remark  on  the  splendid 
way  in  which  graduate  (fully  trained)  nurses  vol- 
unteered under  the  banner  of  St.  John  quite  early 
in  the  war  and  came  over  in  their  hundreds  to 
share  in  the  responsible  nursing  of  our  men,  both 
abroad  and  at  home. 

V,A.D,  Work  Overseas. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  general  survey  of  V.A.I). 
work  to  give  any  real  impression  of  all  that  has 
been  accomplished  by  members  in  Hospitals  in 
Malta,  Egypt,  Salonica,  Russia,  Serbia,  Italy,  Rou- 
mania  and  Belgium.    In  fact  in  all  the  Allies' 


CANADIAN  V.A.D.  WOEK  233 

Countries  British  Voluntary  Aid  members  have 
given  of  their  best. 

The  story  of  those  who  took  part  in  the  great 
retreat  in  Serbia  has  been  told  so  well  that  I  need 
do  no  more  than  touch  upon  it,  but  it  proved  thai 
our  women,  who  went  to  the  succour  of  these 
defeated  but  unconquered  people,  have  courage 
and  skill  in  an  extraordinary  measure. 

In  Malta  and  Egypt  the  members  have  worked 
splendidly  in  the  great  hospitals,  always  under 
the  direction  of  fully  trained  nurses.  In  Belgium 
they  are  still  at  work,  but  not  in  the  numbers  that 
went  to  that  stricken  country  in  the  early  days 
of  the  war,  when  the  sudden  invasion  of  the  enemy 
devastated  the  fair  lands  and  the  beautiful  old 
cities  which  were  beloved  not  only  by  their  own 
people,  but  by  thousands  of  travellers  who  grieve 
to  know  of  the  wanton  destruction  of  some  of  the 
most  exquisite  buildings  in  the  world. 

Quite  recently,  however,  a  V.A.D.  member  who 
has  worked  in  an  Anglo-Belgian  Hospital  for 
nearly  a  year  told  me  that  it  was  so  regular  an 
occurrence  for  enemy  aeroplanes  to  bomb  the  town 
that  no  one  took  any  notice  of  them,  especially  as 
they  seldom  do  any  real  damage. 

Newfoundland,  Several  members  of  the  Ambu- 
lance Detachment  of  the  First  Newfoundland  Eegi- 
ment  fell  in  Gallipoli,  one  of  them  whilst  perform- 
ing a  deed  of  greatest  gallantry. 

Orange  Free  State,    A  great  many  ladies  have 


234    BEITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

qualified  in  First  Aid  and  Home  Nursing  here  and 
many  of  them  have  volunteered  for  service  as 
nurses  at  the  National  Hospital.  Their  work  has 
been  excellent  and  has  been  highly  commended. 
Transvaal.  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  are 
being  formed  here. 

St,  John  Ambulance  Brigade  Overseas, 

Some  of  the  latest  Detachments  to  be  utilised 
at  the  Front  are  those  supplied  from  within  the 
Empire  of  India  for  service  in  Mesopotamia. 
Brigade  Overseas  men  are  serving  practically 
in  every  theatre  of  war  where  the  British  Forces 
are  engaged. 

Peace  and  War  Work, 

The  two  were  curiously  joined  together  for  me 
suddenly  one  night  when  I  was  doing  dressings 
for  men  on  a  train  which  was  passing  down  to  a 
Base  in  France.  The  few  of  us  at  the  Aid  Post 
who  had  been  put  on  to  do  dressings  were  sur- 
rounded with  wounded  men.  It  was  the  middle 
of  a  dark  and  stormy  night  and  we  had  nothing 
better  than  a  single  lamp  as  light.  Suddenly  my 
hand  was  seized  and  in  the  dim  light  I  discerned 
the  uniform  and  badges  of  a  R.A.M.C.  Orderly, 
but  the  face  was  unfamiliar.  **Are  you  not  Miss 
Bowser?  I  used  to  work  with  you  on  Hampstead 
Heath  on  Bank  Holidays ! ' ' 

I  knew  the  voice  in  a  moment.    It  was  a  St. 


CANADIAN  V.A.D.  WORK  235 

John  man  who  had  regularly  given  up  his  Bank 
Holidays  in  order  to  come  and  do  ambulance  work 
at  the  tent  on  Hampstead  Heath,  where  we  always 
had  a  number  of  accidents  to  attend  to  in  the 
course  of  the  day.  For  years  in  peace  time  we 
had  worked  together,  and  now  we  met  under  these 
strange  circumstances,  both  glad  to  have  had  that 
other  training  in  years  when  war  was  only  a 
chimera. 

To  be  prepared  for  all  eventualities  is  the  secret 
which  every  country  and  every  nation  must  realise 
is  a  vital  one.  But  however  well  prepared  may 
be  an  Army  and  a  Navy,  there  must  exist  an  or- 
ganisation for  the  supplementary  care  of  the 
wounded  and  sick  in  war  time.  The  civilian  work 
of  the  St.  John  Ambulance  Association  and  Bri- 
gade in  England  and  her  Empire  laid  a  strong 
foundation,  especially  amongst  the  men,  for  the 
work  of  the  Voluntary  Aid  Detachment  scheme 
which  was  formulated  by  the  War  Office  in  1909 
and  actually  started  in  1910.  That  it  is  not  per- 
fect no  one  would  deny,  but  when  it  is  remembered 
that  it  involves  the  administration  of  millions  of 
pounds  sterling,  of  the  use  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  articles  for  hospital  equipment,  and  sends 
forth  thousands  of  men  and  women,  who  volun- 
tarily give  their  services,  all  over  the  Kingdom 
and  to  every  theatre  of  war,  it  can  be  said  to  be 
nothing  but  a  success.  The  Medical  authorities 
in  the  Services,  the  doctors  in  hospitals  and  the 


236    BRITAIN'S  CIVILIAN  VOLUNTEERS 

trained  nurses  agree  to-day  that  they  could  not 
have  managed  without  the  help  given  to  them  by 
the  Red  Cross  and  its  personnel. 

Upon  the  man  or  woman  debarred  by  age  or 
health  or  sex  from  participating  in  the  greatest 
honour  of  all — fighting  for  one's  country — the 
next  best  privilege  which  can  fall  upon  him  or 
her  is  to  serve  under  the  Red  Cross.  We  who 
have  been  allowed  to  give  some  little  aid,  in  what- 
soever humble  a  manner,  know  that  the  only  alle- 
viation in  the  awful  sorrows  brought  about  by  the 
war  is  that  gained  by  working  for  the  men  who 
give  their  lives,  and  more  than  their  lives — their 
eyesight,  their  limbs  and  their  health — in  the 
cause  of  righteousness. 


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